Throwing Shadows
by Feral Smile
Summary: [Cycle of Hatred: Book One]Heroes are beacons of hope and justice. They burn with intense light, illuminating the way for the next generation. However, the brightest lights throw the darkest shadows. This is the journal of one such shadow.
1. Recruit Pt 1

**Chapter One:**

_Recruit_

* * *

_October 11th of the Setting Sun_

This is the journal of Uzumaki Naruto, chronicling my experiences into becoming a part of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, or the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. Yesterday, on my sixteenth birthday, I was activated due to escalations in Kumo and Iwa. If I pass the aptitude test, I'm in! Since the things I write could hurt the inner-workings of Konoha, it will be kept hidden and under heavy seals. Only the Hokage, joined by myself or another member of my direct lineage will be able to retrieve these scrolls. This way, if I don't have any kids, my story dies with me.

I don't know much about AnBu right now, but I'll make sure to write everything I learn down here for you guys, my kids! Alright, I have today off to 'set my affairs straight', or something like that.

I'm not too sure what it means, but I spent the day with Sakura-chan, who didn't hit me one time! Okay so she hit me one time but she didn't mean it! I said something perverted I think. Anyway, I woke up and had some milk (another fruit bowl was on my counter – ick!) and some cup ramen, then decided to do a bit of training before my breakfast with Hinata. I definitely need to remember to take a bath next time, she told me I stank!

Luckily I had time to get clean before my run with Lee. That guy is insane! We ran really far and really fast, but it was really fun. He's a cool kinda guy when you get to know him (even if he does have really big eyebrows!). After that I went home and took a shower before Sakura-chan showed up, and once she did, we went out to have a lot of fun at the Festival.

It was pretty cool, since not a lot of people hate me anymore. I mean, I guess a lot of people still do, but after what happened with Gaara, they really warmed up to me! Anyway, it was really neat and we had some good dumplings. They didn't have any special ramen though. I bought Sakura a ruby necklace that she really liked with my signing bonus from this AnBu contract. It'll be really cool with all the money I'll be making now. Since AnBu get the super-hard missions, I'll be making super-hard bucks! Gama-chan will explode! Then the sun started to go down and it was really cool.

I'm writing this right now while Sakura-chan makes dinner (Can you believe it? In my house making me dinner!), and when I'm done, we'll eat and then my AnBu liaison told me to bring my best friend to my favorite place! He made me tell him where it was so I guess he wants a witness to my promotion! It's so cool that he made me swear on my Nindo not to tell Sakura-chan what's going on or that I'm meeting him there. I'll look so cool, and then she'll have to go out with me!

Oh, and I get a super-awesome tattoo on my arm too, even though I know it'll hurt bad and I don't like needles, it's going to look awesome! Sakura-chan will definitely have to go out with me! Okay, she's yelling from the kitchen so I should probably finish this up and go see her! I'm so excited!

_~Uzumaki Naruto, FUTURE HOKAGE OF KONOHA_

* * *

_October 12th of the Twilight_

I was right. Sakura-chan wasn't there to watch my promotion, but she did get to see me off. We showed up on the monument, and after waiting about an hour, a guy showed up and congratulated me. He handed Sakura-chan my new address for letters on a paper form along with instructions on what she can and can't send, and he and I left together. Good thing I had my notebook on me, in that special seal Ero-sennin gave me.

This way, my teachers won't find my journal! I'm on a caravan now with the other recruits. There are over a hundred of us, but the only one I recognize is Neji. It's not just Genin and Chuunin though. There are Jounin and all sorts of ninja! Some of them are dressed crazy and carrying huge weapons or puppets or something, others are just sort of plain and sitting there. We all met up in this city outside Konoha, and I guess they pull people from minor villages too, because most of these people are not from Konoha! They're from all over the place.

Some of us are laughing and joking, but I'm staying mostly quiet for once. Baa-chan said I should keep my head down, so I'm going to trust her. If I were younger I'd probably have taken it as a challenge, but now I know that's silly. Let's see, I have my basic black clothes, my ninja gear, and a backpack full of ramen! This should be fun. I CAN SEE THE LIGHTS COMING UP! THAT MUST BE THE TRAINING FACILITY! This is going to be awesome. I'm going to talk to Neji now, bye!

_~Uzumaki Naruto, FUTURE HOKAGE OF KONOHA!_

* * *

_October 17th of the Dusk_

This is the first chance I've had to write anything since the last time. Our caravan pulled through some sort of gate, an AnBu member came onto the bus and looked at us, then left. We drove through and I saw a bunch of AnBu trainees in what looked like a pool. They were holding cinderblocks over their head and treading water. They looked scared. I should have been scared. I was excited. Why was I excited? We drove up to our Barracks, and an AnBu dressed in bright pink was somehow behind us on the bus. I barely heard him whisper for us to get off the caravan or die, before he released a poison gas. We all scrambled for the exit.

I didn't rush – I am immune to all poisons. Once we were off with our bags, there were bright pink foot prinks on the ground where we were supposed to stand. Everyone else was on the footprints, so I started walking towards them. Bad idea. Immediately a bright-yellow clad AnBu was directly in front of me, screaming in my face. I don't recall the exact words, but my heart lit on fire and I ran for the spots. Everyone was standing at rigid attention, so I did as well.

"TILT YOUR CHIN UP, UZUMAKI-FAGGOT!" I looked around at him in slight shock. Kind of strong language to use on a Jinchuuriki who could level this entire building, right? Wrong again. "DO I LOOK AMUSING TO YOU, FUCKWIT?!"

He slapped me harder than Sakura-chan ever has. I slumped to the right, ankles screaming in protest as some strange technique kept them glued to the pink prints. I straightened up and looked straight ahead like everyone else. The Yellow AnBu approached me again, but some other recruit had said something, so instead of attacking me again, he converged on someone to my left with two other brightly colored ninja.

I'm not sure what he did or what he said, but he kept talking. They kept screaming. Then they started hitting him. They didn't stop until he was whimpering. I reminded myself that he was probably only a Genin. If you couldn't handle this, why would you sign up? After more assorted screaming, they all fell silent, and the bright pink AnBu stood in front of our hasty formation. "Hello, class one-zero-six."

No one responded. At this point we were all scared. The recruit who had spoken back was on longer affixed to his footprints. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, taking shuddering breaths. This is the length they go to with their own? I was pulled from my thoughts by the Pink AnBu.

"What? You don't want to respond? Are you all deaf or stupid?" He looked at the Yellow AnBu, who shrugged. "Well, they might not be smart, but they will be strong. ON YOUR FACES!"

I knew this. This I was familiar with. I dropped down and started pushing. Mistake.

"DID I SAY TO FUCKING START YOU WORTHLESS FUCKING MAGGOT?!"

I stopped. "OH NO, BY ALL MEANS, DON'T PAUSE ON MY ACCOUNT, SHOWOFFS!"

I noted several other recruits pushing with me. When I hit twenty, something inside me felt strange and then broke, and suddenly I could barely lift myself.

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED AND LISTENED TO DIRECTIONS BEFORE YOU JUMPED AHEAD, DAISY?"

He was squatting over my face, his mask following me as I went up, ever so slowly.

"Listen up. Each day you are allotted a single mistake. This is because you are new. Every mistake will cost you twenty push ups. After the initial twenty, your limiters will be broken and your body weight will double. Every mistake after that will add another set of your weight on. Uzumaki here is experiencing two times his own weight. He made one mistake too many. He has eighteen push ups to go. Let's all get down and push with him. Begin."

All the instructors and all the recruits dropped, somewhat haphazardly.

"STOP!"

We all stopped.

"EVERYONE BACK TO THEIR FUCKING FEET! LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN!"

We all scrambled to our feet, wondering what happened.

"DOWN!" We dropped. "BEGIN!"

We started doing the push ups. Mine were still very hard. When we got to eighteen, we remained in the 'up' position for fear of breaking a rule. The instructors all stood. "Great. Now show us how bad you want to be here. Start pushing. The first one to drop will fail. Along with whoever is on his left. Fourth Element will be failed by First Element, since they have no one to their right and left respectively."

He knelt down to my face, and I could smell the stink of raw garlic as he said, almost lovingly, "Good luck, Uzumaki."

This was hardly fair. I was already exhausted from pushing. What's more, the blood from the injured recruit was getting closer to me while I pushed. I watched as it inched close and closer, all the while I was struggling to get back to the 'up' position. I started to hear straining grunts. I saw out of the corner of my eye someone stop pushing in the up position to rest. The Yellow AnBu sat on his back and commanded him to continue. He did. The blood was now touching my hands. I can deal with blood, but it was making the pavement slippery. I tried to apply chakra to my hands to stick, but when I pulled, nothing came.

"Some of you will have noticed that you can't use chakra. That's because the mist you breathed on the bus closed your coils. They'll be fixed at the end of this particular phase of initiation, but until then, welcome to reality."

I cursed under my breath as the groans and grunts around me started to increase. The injured recruit shuddered, then fell.

"EVERYONE STOP!"

We stopped. They dragged him out of the formation, leaned him against the wall to watch us, then looped Ninja Wire around his neck a single time. They attached it to a strange looking plate, then brought the plate to the recruit directly to my left, which is near the center of the formation. They placed it under his chest, then explained.

"This is a pressure plate. If it is pressed, motors inside will draw that wire closed." The Pink AnBu turned to the bleeding recruit. "What will happen then, Pissant?"

"I-I'll die!"

"WHAT?! I DIDN'T HEAR YOU, TAMAKI!"

"I'LL DIE, SIR!"

"CORRECT." He stood to his full height again. "Not that any of us would miss you."

We were given the command to keep pressing. We did. I'm pretty sure we were all wondering why the recruit didn't fail. They said the first person to drop would fail. So what's this? The recruit on my left; the one over the pressure plate, was sweating. He was struggling to do the push ups. There was a large bastard sword on his back, thicker and shorter than Zabuza's, but immense nonetheless. It must have weighted a lot.

He sank, almost touching the plate, then slowly rose again. My arms were burning. They weren't just burning, they were on fire. I had already passed another twenty and the weight had increased again. This was just madness. I watched as the recruit to my left started to shudder on his way up, then stopped altogether.

"STOP!"

The shock of the yell jolted him to the up position, where he sagged and locked out his elbows, staring fearfully at the pressure plate. Someone else in the formation had dropped. "EVERYONE ON YOUR FEET!"

We scrambled back to our rigid attention as they dragged the second person, along with the pressure plate, out of the formation. Of course. It had all been a show. Then they unlooped the injured recruit, as I predicted. Then, however, they looped the recruit that had just fallen.

"Weakness," The Yellow AnBu said, "Is not tolerated here."

They put the injured recruit on his face, over the pressure plate, while his counterpart lay on his back in front of him. They stared into one another's eyes as the injured recruit started pressing. He got to twelve. Then the weight hit him again, harder. He struggled. He shuddered. He screamed. Then he fell, and the second recruit to fall became the first recruit to die. His head rolled sickly into the front of our formation.

"There were one hundred and six of you. Hello, Class one-zero-five."

They ran us up the stairs and into our barracks, where we 'chose' beds. I was lucky. There was a mattress on the slab of stone I had leapt for. In the morning, they said, we'd be initiated. I had thought that _was_ the initiation. I guess I was wrong.

The next morning, we were marched into a classroom while getting screamed at for not swinging our arms precisely six inches in the front of our body and three inches to the rear of our body. We sat at attention in our seats, terrified of what would happen next. A naked woman walked from behind us to the strange in front of us. How she got there, I have no idea. She walked, hips swaying. Her perfectly toned skin shone in the light. She had absolutely no hair on her body. The girl looked ridiculous. She had no hair on her private parts, no hair on her head, and weirdest of all, no hair on her eyebrows. The only reason I knew she was a girl was from her…well, private parts. I blushed.

This was, after all, the first time I'd seen a woman naked. She stood in front of our two instructors, Pink and Yellow. Yellow addressed her, speaking loud enough that everyone could hear him.

"Who are you?"

"Sir, I am a recruit of class zero-seven-four."

"WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING NAME?"

"Sir, I do not have a name."

"YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING NAME? DO YOU THINK I'M FUCKING STUPID?! TELL ME YOUR DAMNED NAME, RECRUIT!"

"Sir, I do not have a name."

"DID YOU DROP IT SOMEWHERE, WHORE?"

"Sir, I dropped it in the burn-pit with my equipment."

"What's the burn pit, maggot?"

"Sir, the burn pit is where we destroy the gear from our previous life."

"Show these fucking sheep to the burn pit, and recruit them."

"Sir." She turned to us, and pointed at the door. We ran. Once we were all formed up outside, the beautiful, ugly naked girl stood in front out our formation. "Fair warning; I'm to kill the last person to arrive. Forty-five degrees to your left, five hundred meters, ninty degrees to your right, five hundred meters."

She took off towards the training grounds, as we tried to follow her. I felt my body weigh down as I tried to run faster. We didn't need an explanation. This was simple. The faster you run, the harder you're weighed down. I let up on my output and felt the weight become manageable. Instead of trying to run, I jogged, and started outstripping the other people with me.

I've been calling them recruits, but they weren't recruits until after we reached the burn pit. They were just Shinobi. Neji was beside me. I nodded at him, painfully. He shook his head briefly. Then we reached the burn legs were on fire, and I almost collapsed. After a full minute, the last recruit made it. As soon as he reached us, a kunai embedded in his forehead. The girl cocked her head at us.

"Hello, class one-zero-four."

We stared at the dead man at our feet. This was a Konoha ninja. He graduated two classes before me. "I don't understand." Why was I talking? I couldn't stop myself. I was so stupid.

"There are a great many things you don't understand, Uzumaki. We're here to teach you." The girl was now in my face, so close that I could feel her breath on my face. "Lesson one; do not speak until spoken to."

She flicked me in the forehead, but without malice. I realized that she was not like our instructors. She had been through what we're going through. We can learn from her.

"Tips?" Neji asked, efficiently.

"No." She turned to him. "There is no advice to help you through what is coming."

The girl moved to indicate the pit behind her. Inside was a blisteringly hot flame that leapt twenty-feet into the air. It seemed to be fueled by equipment. Shoes, shirts, vests, swords…and most horribly of all…people. The girl shoved the latest victim into the fire, and as she spoke to us, the smell of burning human flesh reached our noses.

"This is where we throw all our trash. Any useless equipment."

"And apparently people!" Someone shouted from behind me.

"Like I said." She leveled her gaze at him. "Any useless equipment."

Once we were all naked, we through our gear into the fire. As it burned, we shuffled uncomfortably, unused to our nakedness. The girl walked through us, her breast brushing my arm.

"You forgot one thing. Your name. Cast it into the flames as well."

We looked at her confused. She shook her head like we were stupid. "Line up. Whisper your name to the flames. Then never speak it again."

We did. When my turn came, I stood in front of the flames, wondering what I got myself into. Was this what I wanted? Did it matter anymore what I wanted? It was too late. Pass or die. Did Kakashi-sensei really do this? I missed Sakura-chan. I thought about her, focused on her face, then whispered my name into the fire and forgot about her. I turned and dashed after my new brothers towards the formation prints. When everyone was fished, our instructors met us.

"From this point onwards, you will be called Recruit. You have no names, no pasts. You have no faces." He touched his bright pink, featureless mask. "In time, you may earn a face. Or you may die. You'll probably die."

They then marched us out across the road and over a mile to the clippers. We lined up four at a time and had our hair taken off with razors. When it came to my turn, I stood awkwardly in front of the featureless female recruit from the other class. Three of her classmates were also removing hair. She took a very sharp kunai and roughly scraped my hair from my head, leaving blood in some places.

She did the same to my eyebrows, then armpits. Then she sank to her knees in front of me. I was terrified, then wildly I thought of how this was the first time a girl was on her knees in front of my…well I was too scared to be aroused. Then the kunai cut into my pubic hair, and I screamed with my brothers and sisters. I felt the blade in my flesh, cutting, biting. Then it was done. I thought it was done. We about-faced to leave, but before we could, they bent us over again. I hope, as my children, that you've never had to experience the demeaning agony of having a sharp kunai used to clear out any hair around your…well…

We were shapeless and ugly in our formation. Most of us were bloody. We all had weird pale skin where our hair used to be. We marched in the blazing sun back to our barracks. Then we got to eat breakfast.

The entire affair was rather quick. The food was already on the plates, as we stood in formation looking at it, our instructors spoke.

"There are one hundred and four of you. I have taken the liberty of placing one hundred plates of food here. This food is all poisoned."

He turned to us. "Oh, right. Take your time. In fifteen minutes, you'll be outside standing in formation again. Go."

Pink and Yellow as I've come to call them watched us as we stood awkwardly at the food. Well, they stood awkwardly. I grabbed the nearest plate – some delicious crispy pork-chops, and dug in. I felt the poison in my blood, but I also felt the burning that was the Kyuubi destroying it. I guess the mist didn't work on demonic chakra. There were several other recruits eating as well.

Then there was most of us. Only a few didn't eat. We returned to the classroom, where we learned about landing on our toes and the exact physics of certain movements. Immediately following, we had a practical demonstration. Any of us that could not demonstrate the movements adequately was put on his face until everyone finished. After that, I started to notice my fellow recruits behave…differently. They started moving jerkily, and seemed paranoid. Just as I notice this, the instructor comments on it.

"You're starting to feel the effects of the hallucinogen you consumed at breakfast. Depending on how weak your immune system is, you could be dead by dinner. I wouldn't advise eating any lunch if you had breakfast."

The rest of the days were similar. As promised, whoever ate lunch and got a double dose of the poison was dead by dinner. I of course, ate all three meals without any negative effects.

That night, I woke sometime in the early morning and walked towards the bathroom. I walked on my toes, because by now I knew the instructors slept on the floor in the hallway. As I passed them, I noticed a new addition to the bathroom door. Nestled on a velvet pillow was a single kunai. Above it was a sign that read '_if you dare'._ I went pee instead, then went back to bed. Neji was my bunkmate.

"Hey." He whispered to me, knowing I was awake.

"Yeah?"

"This is fucked."

"Yeah."

I stared at the wall.

"Do you know why they wear such ridiculous colors?"

"No, why?"

"Because they're the best the AnBu have. They're saying that even with such a huge disadvantage, you still can't see me coming."

"I hate this place."

"We've only been here a day."

"We've been here our whole lives, feels like."

"I guess we have been, one way you look at it."

Yesterday, Yellow noticed that I eat at every meal.

I'm scared of what they'll do to me tomorrow.

_Recruit, Class Zero-Nine-One_


	2. Recruit Pt 2

_October, I think, of the Deep Night_

We've learned the basics of AnBu. We've learned about our history. There are, of course, no names. There are, however, the code names that they earned. I learned about the sacrifices of Cobra and Deer. I heard about the legendary Wolf. We're in the start of what's called a training pipeline. After the Recruitment Process, where we are now, where we learn the basic history and base skills we need to survive, we'll advance to Initiation. That's where the older class is going as I write this. Initiation is only a week long compared to the three months that we're here.

After Initiation, which is basically a physical test more than a mental one, we have Indoctrination, where we get absolutely destroyed. I've heard a lot of rumors here about how hard Indoctrination is. It's hard to imagine something more difficult than this. But I have gone through harder things in my life, so I shouldn't say that. This…is nothing. We had a recruit try to kill an Instructor for the first time the other night. The worst part is that he succeeded. The Instructor of course, killed the student, but then he just left. We only have the Pink AnBu left. As time wears on, we realize that they're not our enemy. The Instructor is preparing us for something. The Initiation. A week…of what?

It's strange now that I think about it, but we've gotten used to being naked around each other. The males have stopped having random erections a couple weeks ago. We are no longer constipated. I've stopped looking at my peers as individuals. We're all the same now. Our physical prowess is meaningless, our chakra control or reserves are untouchable by us. Even the Byakugan one of us has is worthless to him, because he can't channel or control any chakra. Our muscles burn all the time, and I can actually feel them ripping when we exercise.

There are two things that allow us to excel. How quickly we learn, and how powerful our drive is. If person A is stronger than person B, then person A automatically has to life more weight than person B. Therefore they are emitting the same amount of physical effort. So why then, does one person do more repetitions than the other? It comes down to drive. We're not really competing against each other in strength, just in drive. They're making us into the best possible version of ourselves. At least physically. Once they break us physically, will they break us mentally? Perhaps that's already started. The smallest, stupidest things seem important now. Like who has an errant fingernail, or if someone has dirt under their pinky.

The instructor realized that I'm immune to poison, so now they're forcing me to only eat a single meal. A recruit tried to sneak a small packet of peanut butter into the dorm, but our instructor smelled it. They recruit wasn't killed, but he was beaten almost half to death. We've stopped dying, for the most part. There are seventy-four of us now, and none of us have died for a week. I think the remnants of this class will proceed to the next phase of training. I suppose only time will tell.

I did learn something interesting about the AnBu masks. Before, I thought they get to pick their own masks, but I realized that isn't true. Certain masks, such as Wolf or Fox, have been retired. In fact, there is an entire room full of retired masks that can not be chosen. For the most part, however we are issued masks based on our preference. The person who graduates top of his class gets to pick first, and if that mask is not currently in service, or retired, than you get that mask. I'm not sure what mask I should choose. Fox would have been the obvious choice of my younger and stupider self, but that wouldn't have hidden my identity very well, and in addition, it's retired so I couldn't have it anyway.

I suppose it's a little too early to be thinking about masks when I still have to earn clothes. Next week we are learning about the different types of AnBu. I look forward to it. I require sleep now.

_Recruit, Class Zero-Seven-Four_

* * *

_November, of the Early Morning_

I'll first list the different components within our ranks, and then describe each. First, Special Security and Sentry Division, Special Counter-Intelligence Decision, Special Hunting and Tracking Division, Special Assassination and Terrorism Division, and finally, the Special Operations and Tactics Division.

The Special Security and Sentry Division works mostly as homeland security. Meaning they're posted along the borders of Fire Country and in particular locations of high-value assets of resources. Some of these would include the Hokage and Fire Daimyo. They constantly protect and enforce special laws and are fully authorized to use deadly force at their own discretion. They're basically hyper-powerful gate guards or security patrols with a license to kill. They're referred to as Sentry-nin.

The Special Counter-Intelligence Division's main goal is to spread lies and misinformation outside of Fire Country. Since their Mission is unique, they're headquarters aren't actually within the boundary of this nation. If we acquire a new bloodline, it's their job to make sure no one finds out. They also will provide false information about our operations and activities. That way, when our ninja have to go into Cloud Country, they can do so with the assurance that Kumo won't retaliate. They're referred to as Spy-nin.

The Special Hunting and Tracking Division is a group of AnBu focused on targeting and retrieving missing ninja. If we were to lose a Hyuuga for any reason, this group would immediately find the person, and either rescue or destroy the body. They're referred to as Hunter-nin.

The Special Assassination and Terrorism Division handles any high-profile or sensitive assassinations. It also can deal with terrorism, which is the method of controlling an enemy with their fear. Instead of actually mobilizing ninja to take over a country, we will send in a squad or two from SATD and they're take out one or two key individuals and crush a country's economy. That way, only a few lives are lost and we've won. These are called Killer-nin.

Lastly, the Special Operations and Tactics Division is for special-purpose missions that don't fall under the other categories or can't be accomplished by Jounin or Tokubetsu-Jounin. They handle most of the S-Class missions that involve odd requests or special tasking. These are Special-nin

Another recruit died the other day. We were split up into different groups and rotating between five stations to get a feel for the type of missions these AnBu would be expected to accomplish. It was a test of sorts, but it was also meant as a moral-booster for us, I think. It was fun when previously nothing else was. I was in the Special Hunting and Tracking group, trying to find a Special-nin before the Killer-nin found him.

While doing this, we had to avoid Sentry-nin and ignore false trails laid by Spy-nin. The instructor tapped out one of the Sentry-nin to find us, and one of my fellows accidentally slipped on a branch, causing a piece of bark to fall and giving away our position. We scattered, but because he slipped, the kunai rain that had come down on us tagged him in the throat. He fell to the forest floor, gurgling. The instructor terminated the game and we all appeared at his body. We watched as he shuddered and clutched at our bare feet, blood pouring from his throat. He choked, then fell still, eyes gazing horribly at me. We all looked at each other, and a rumble swept over this group of naked ninja as we all echoed,

"Hello, Class Zero-Seven-Three."

_Recruit, Class Zero-Seven-Three_

* * *

_January 10th, of the Dawn_

We're all slated to graduate. There are seventy of us. Two people died during the familiarization phase of the graduation cycle, which is a three day span where we get re-used to the weapons we used to wield but haven't had a chance to while we are training. From this point on, our training will be more practical skill application and less reading. Over the last two months, we've learned about cultures in different countries, how to behave like a noble in Cloud Country, Demon Country, Rock Country, and all the others.

More importantly, we learned how to observe subtle social cues and fit into a culture we're completely unfamiliar with. I can say with certainty that if you dropped me in the middle of a random country with no money and no weapons, without clothes or food, that I could survive and adapt. I could become a beggar within an hour, a random individual within a day, a well-known shopkeeper within a week, or a beloved noble within a month. We did exercises to test our abilities on this. We'd go into the Mock Village, which is basically a bunch of structures you can move around to create places, and a group of recruits would be given instructions on how to act. We'd be dropped in and have a certain amount of time to mimic these people.

What you have to remember about our training is that with all of this, we had to operate under ridiculous amounts of weight due to our internal limiters (which will stay on until we make team), we have no chakra, and we're completely naked. Tomorrow is the end of course exam, where we will answer a one-thousand question test. We must not miss more than ten questions or it's a failure. If we pass, we are awarded the AnBu tattoo. During graduation, we will earn our uniform. We had survival training, speech training, training on how to seduce women, how to seduce men, and even training on how to draw.

I can cook efficient, healthy meals, recognize different herbs and spices in the wild, along with any medicinal plants. We learned verbal judo, which is manipulating your enemy or target into arguing himself into a corner, or to calm him down. We learned about fear stimuli, which is basically a form of killer intent without the chakra echoes. If you shift your body in a certain way, your enemy will be slightly on edge. We evolved from a different part of the food chain, so little leftover bits of information deep in our subconscious make us nervous, like when someone won't look away from you, or if someone is walking directly at you. If someone lowers their body weight slightly, or their eyes narrow just so…

When you put all of these elements together it goes from mildly unnerving to your enemy being irrationally terrified to the point of paralysis. I can do all of this without chakra.

Today, I was chosen to come in front of the new class and show them to the burn pit. I recognized Lee, and also Ino. It was mildly surprising to see Ino, and my face almost fell when I realized that she would probably die in this pipeline. I listened to their instructors (Baby Blue and Acid Green), scream at me and ask me where I left my clothes and name. I told them that they're in the Burn Pit.

That's where the similarities ended, however. I made the mistake of looking the Baby Blue AnBu in the eyes when I spoke. This was because Pink AnBu and he were at odds over something. I don't know what but I know my instructor hates him. So I looked through his blank mask and into his eyes, which is forbidden. He backhanded me, but in true form, I hardened the appropriate muscles as I was taught. Instead of slumping over like my first day, my face and neck did not move. He must have underestimated me, because I heard an audible snap in his hand, and a slight shift in his body posture told me he was in pain and had acquired fear stimulus of me. The AnBu put me on my face and stood on my back.

As I pushed, he lectured his class on how never to look an AnBu in the eyes unless you were stupid or had a death wish. He explained that if I were to drop, that he would kill me.

I had been in the program long enough to know that as a different instructor, he wasn't allowed to harm me in any way. That sacred privilege belonged only to my instructor. I took fierce pride in my Pink AnBu. I hit the one hundred mark on pushups and felt my arms and joints scream. I didn't slow down on my repetitions. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the green AnBu vanish. I reached one hundred and eighty, and my limbs stopped responding. I locked out my elbows as sweat poured from my stoic face. I dipped and pushed up again. I continued pushing ever so slowly.

The ninja watching were horrified. They knew how much weight I was handling at this moment. Not only had MY weight doubled, but the weight of the AnBu was also added. I was pushing at the four hundred mark, not the two hundred mark. I reached one ninety nine. On two hundred, my body gave out and I dropped. The AnBu on my back snarled and kicked my side. I was so exhausted that I didn't flex correctly and I felt my rib snap. Then I felt an immense force lift me up, and I saw the kunai in his hand. I thought wildly about everything I'd been through. My body reacted on it's own.

My hand came up, impossibly, and grabbed his wrist. I felt the bones inside grind together as his breath hitched. Then somehow I was on the floor and my instructor, the Pink AnBu, was standing above me. I had a brief glimmer of my past life where Umino-san was crouched over me, then was brought back to the present by my Instructor ripping the Baby Blue AnBu's mask off. His face was uncontrolled and his eyes were flitting all over the room at his recruits. My Instructor stepped on his throat. He addressed the class.

"Every once in a while, the AnBu have a problem. This AnBu operated outside of his authority. This is expressly forbidden. The punishment is death."

The class watched as they lost their first instructor. I stood to my feet, and turned to address them. "You are to follow me to the Burn Pit." I pointed at the door, feeling my broken rib stretch and agony shot through my body. No one moved. This class was either stupid, or in shock. My instructor rounded on them.

"GET OUT OF THIS FUCKING DOOR NOW YOU GAPING FUCKWITS!"

He through the body into the crowd. I watched blood splatter Ino's face as she screamed. They ran.

Then there was only me and the Pink AnBu in the room. I turned to go, then felt his gloved hand on my shoulder. "Recruit."

I about-faced and stood at rigid attention, sure I was about to be killed or expelled from the program. My heart raced. I felt more sweat bead at my brow.

"Sir."

He seemed to regard me. "How many push ups did you do before you dropped."

"Sir, I dropped on repetition number two-zero-zero."

He cocked his head at me. "Good."

I carefully controlled my face as inside my heart went crazy. He had only ever praised us as a group once before. He never individually told us good work.

"Sir, I must instruct the new class on Burn Pit Procedures."

"Then do so, fucker."

I about-faced and ran out of the building. The class stood at rigid attention in front of me. I noticed that Lee was in the front rank.

"The Burn Pit," I said, "Is where you will make the transition from nobody to recruit."

I gave them the brief directions that I got, and the subsequent warning. I took off at a far pace and turned to watch as their limiters activated. They struggled. Ino's face changed as she figured it out. One by one, they started to pick up speed. They started to arrive at my Burn Pit. I looked over their heads at the last person, struggling. He was very far behind the group. I recognized him. My heart broke when I realized what I had to do. I felt my hand close over the ceremonial kunai. I realized I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill my friend. The kunai leapt into the air seemingly of it's own accord and struck Lee directly in the eye. He was dead before he hit the ground.

I did not allow my voice to shake. "As you will realize…not everything here is about how hard you work. You must be mentally equipped to learn faster than a striking snake."

I picked his body up and walked towards the pit. Instead of dropping him in, I faced the group. "Yamanaka."

Ino looked scared. "Y-yes?"

"Fall into this ninja's spot."

She stepped into his assigned location in formation as they fixed the gap in the back. I recalled briefly that I hadn't been in formation during my own Burn Pit. I dropped Lee at her feet. I was very close to her now, and she seemed to be hyper-aware of my nakedness. It was so second nature to me that she seemed silly. Lee's blood was on my body. I leaned in close to her face, starting into her terrified eyes. "Throw this useless tool into the burn pit."

I stepped to the side and watched as she fought against her limiter and rolled Lee into the flames. She turned to me.

"Take off your clothes."

I expected her to protest. I expected to have to hit her and rip her clothes from her body. She held my gaze and her tears as she stripped down fully naked. Her body was amazing. Her milky skin and pale hair were a delight to my eyes. I had seen only hairless, genderless recruits for so long that she was gorgeous to me. I knew my instructor would be dealing with the body. I knew he trusted me with this class. I stepped in close to her again, feeling my arousal grow.

"During the next three months, you will all grow used to things very quickly. You'll learn to use each other. You'll learn that nothing," I grabbed her breast and lightly twisted the nipple, "is sacred."

She was openly crying now, silent tears running down her face. I caught one with my index finger, disgusted at her weakness. I felt my arousal vanish. I faced her peers and showed them her tear.

"You will learn," I licked it off my finger. "to feed on misery."

They looked at me in awe. They stripped naked without my cue.

"Get in line, throw your possessions into the flames. You will then whisper your name into the flames, and it will cease to exist."

They queued. Ino, being closest, was first. Instead of holding my eyes this time, she wouldn't look at me. Behind her, someone asked, "Do you have any advice?"

I looked him in the eye. "Nothing escapes the fires of the Burn Pit. Not your gear, not your name." I paused. "Not even your fears."

When they were finished, I told them to run back to their pad. They did, somewhat more successfully than the first time. I faced the fire. I looked at Lee's blackening skull. I turned to leave.

My instructor was in front of me. "You're not typical, Recruit."

I looked at his blank mask, carefully avoiding his eyes out of respect. "Sir, I am not."

"You are graduating as the Ace."

"Yes sir."

So there you have it. Tomorrow I graduate at the top of my class. This is really a curse in disguise. All that this means is that I'm going to be watched even more carefully and ridden even harder during Indoctrination. Then again…it means my tattoo will have a line that no one else's will. Those who graduate as Ace get a small horizontal brush stroke through the bottom line of their tattoo. It also will give me authority over the other recruits, or as we'll be called by then, Initiates.

_Recruit, Class Zero-Seven-Zero_

* * *

_January 12th, of the Sunrise_

The person we chose prior to training is the only one allowed to attend our graduation. We lined in stiff formation, looking impressive. We were dressed in tight skin-fitting uniforms. We were the second class ever to showcase the new Dress Black uniform, which was similar to the regular uniform except that it was entirely black, our toes were covered, and our gloves were finger less. We must have looked strange without hair on our heads or faces, but we were proud. I looked at the small group that made up our audience, and at the Hokage, who beamed at me. I pointedly ignored her. We turned towards our Instructor, who was now wearing an AnBu uniform similar to ours, and a blank mask. It was white, not pink.

He addressed the crowd and told them about our sacrifices and told them to be proud of our accomplishment. He pulled me from the formation. As the Ace, I was given the honor of getting the first tattoo. When it was done, he carefully made the final stroke indicating my graduation as the Ace, and then made a final tap that sank deep into my arm. I saluted him, then the Hokage.

I then took the small smoke-stick he had used, a sacred traditional item, and in turn tattooed the next recruit. Once done, he saluted me, and then the Hokage. Each person after getting tattooed, took up the stick and tattooed the next person. Once we were all finished, our instructor centered himself on the formation and spoke to us.

He held out his elbow horizontally in one swift movement, his hand on his chest. Then he snapped it fully out, and we all vanished. Earlier he had told us that the final, deep tap of the smoke stick would inject a liquid into our bloodstream to cure the limiter. As soon as my tattoo was finished, I felt the flood of chakra in my body, and each subsequent person felt the same.

For the first time, we dispersed at full speed, reinforced with chakra. I doubt the Hokage herself saw us move. We didn't get to greet our guests. They were only there as witnesses. We're headed in loose formation towards the Indoctrination Grounds, which is several miles outside of the training facility we'd been at. I caught Neji's eye. We nodded at one another. When we reached the Indoctrination Grounds, all hell broke loose. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to write about it tonight.

_Initiate, Standby_

* * *

**End of Chapter One**


	3. Trainee Pt 1

**Chapter Two:**

_Trainee_

* * *

_January 18th of the Rising Sun_

We've finished with Initiation. Ten of us have dropped out of the program. Dropping out is different now – you don't get killed. They send you home with a tee-shirt. Literally, you get sent home with a tee-shirt. They figure that if you made it to graduation, you're too valuable of an asset to let go to waste. Our failures get reintegrated into the regular Shinobi Forces as Tokubetsu Jounin, or Special Jounin. Some humdrum is made up about some special facet they serve but don't rank as full Jounin, but in reality they're just people who failed out of post-Recruitment stage AnBu training. Day one was of course in the pool. Since we had our Chakra back, we felt really powerful.

I knew, I think, on some level that they were just bringing us up to smash us back down. We were thrown in to the pool, and then given cinderblocks. I recalled months previously when I saw this happening as we approached the training facility. In reality it was much scarier than it looked. The blocks were made out of a strange metal that absorbed chakra. We had to tread water and raise the blocks above our heads for a full hour, all the while having our chakra drained. This was of course not a problem for me due to my almost limitless reserves, but on the first day we had two people drop the block. They weren't killed, nor were they failed. They had to retrieve the block and continue on.

At this point, we knew all about how never to give up, so they both ended up passing. On day two, I dropped mine completely by accident. A female on my right tagged my calf with her toe and it startled me so much that I sank several feet. The block instantly doubled in weight once it got wet, and I let my breath out under water as I kicked off from the bottom of the pool to regain the surface.

I breached the surface spluttering but alright. It was a long day after that. We had our first drop out as well. They voluntarily gave up. While we all tread water spluttering, he surfaced with the assistance of an instructor, then climbed onto a big block over the pool where he could see us suffer. He was handed a bullhorn and they whispered something to him. I saw him start to cry. The dropout raised the horn, blew its klaxon scream, then yelled "I give up! I am not fit to breathe the same air as you. I will never be your brother."

On day three, we no longer tread water. Instead, we threw the blocks to each other while balancing on the water with chakra. As an added multiplier, we were balancing on top of two kunai. I mean to say that we channeled our chakra through kunai to keep them afloat, while we balanced on them and did our best to avoid being skewered. Another person dropped out.

The klaxon startled one of the females so much that she slipped on the kunai. One went skittering away harmlessly, but the other pierced her foot. She gasped as the block hit her in the chest and forced her underwater, where it pinned her to the bottom of the pool. We watched impassively as she struggled with its weight. She couldn't move it off her chest, and she slowly drown. The instructors didn't make any move to save her, and neither did we.

You have to understand that we were in a completely different mindset. We became class zero-six-nine. During this week, the instructors allotted us one hour free time at the end of each night. We usually used this as time to sleep, but on the night the initiate drowned, I spent the night with another in my cot.

We slept in this big sort of tent, cots all lined along each side, with our meager possessions stored in a footlocker at the base of our cot. We had realized the night before that the instructors didn't care if we had sex, and the next night my first opportunity came. Her name was Fu. She had bright silver eyes and a fuzz of bluish hair on her head. We celebrated our new team name in earnest, then moved on to more important matters. My fellow initiates looked on in mild annoyance and mild jealousy. We were sating a need, however, not emotionally attaching to each other. When we were finished, we cleaned ourselves up and went to sleep for the night. The next day, Fu tore her rotator cuff flinging a cement block, causing herself to be failed.

That marked three dropouts in four days. Or it would have, if Fu had failed alone. Instead, the errant block hit another initiate in the neck, outright killing him. That made four in four days. Sleep deprivation was getting to us. It was killing our focus, and the death served as a sharp reminder of the cost of our inattentiveness. The day after that, it started raining. Which wouldn't have been so bad, except remember that the blocks get incredibly heavy once they've been wet. After a morning workout of coughing and razor-sharp chakra control exercises, we began the new exercise. We formed a tight formation on the side of the pool, our special cinderblocks held high above our heads, as always.

"Ranks One and Three, line up and throw your blocks into the water."

They rushed to comply. As the Ace, I was positioned in Rank Four, so I didn't move.

"Now, Ranks Two and Four will look to their left. That will be your partner. Since an initiate decided to fuck the team and die yesterday, you get to work alone."

He indicated the lone member who had no one to his left. Since we have four ranks, if the second and fourth rank looked left, everyone should have had a partner, but since we were one short, the member in the back left of the flight had a blank space to his left.

"You're going to line up two teams at a time at this end of the pool. We're going to seal your block in such a way that it will quadruple its weight. You will push it from one side to the other, but only one of you may surface at a time."

The AnBu instructor turned his blank mask on the lone initiate. "You're just unlucky. You'll be handling twice the weight without any breath whatsoever. Good luck." He laughed.

We lined up silently. The recruit who was alone was situated behind me and my partner; a female with black hair starting to form on her head, and pale blue eyes. Her physique matched the insane fitness standards they were instilling in us, causing a faint outline on her stomach. Since we played in the pool in full gear, most of her was hidden, but memories from our Recruitment stage and the fact that the stomach bit of our armor was form fitting caused me to nod at her after eyeing her. She returned the favor after a moment, and suddenly I had a new playmate until one of us failed. The little mark on my tattoo may have helped the process along, as her pale eyes lingered just a moment too long on it.

I heard a noise behind me and focused on the lone initiate. His name was Jin. His hair was also black, and was growing at a ridiculous rate. He had dark green eyes and he seemed scared. He made another strange noise when I looked at him and shuffled uncomfortably. Jin was always an awkward person, which caused most of us to ignore him even more than we ignored each other. He never had a playmate and was rumored to be homosexual. He had a problem meeting your eyes and had a strange fidgety form of attention. I snapped my fingers at him, causing his eyes to snap to mine. I held his gaze with mine, and then turned back around. Jin may have been weird, but he scored a perfect 100 on our end of course, and never fell out of formation. He was just timid.

The female, Saiyu, and I were next into the pool. She took the block from me, allowed it to be sealed, then flipped around backwards to face me as she fell into the pool. This was against our instructions, but no one said anything, and I eyed her challenging gaze as the weighted cube overtook her and she sank sub-surface.

I entered the water with barely a splash and found her at the bottom, feet and legs cocked against the edge of the pool to power off. I connected with the block and mirrored her. She held my gaze as we channeled chakra and exploded from the side of the wall, leaving a small crack and causing a very loud thump in the water. The block skid several feet with us, then stopped dead.

We struggled to push it along, but it moved barely an inch. Saiyu twitched then swam for the surface. She tapped me on the shoulder after a moment and we switched. We struggled against the block for several move inches in this fashion to small avail, and then Saiyu got crafty. She made two discrete hand signs with her left hand that looked somewhat familiar, and I noticed the water around us drop considerably in temperature.

She shoved the block with me over some sort of small lip, then it start moving incredibly easy. I wasn't sure what she did, but I wasn't going to rat her out or complain. We made it to the end and surfaced several minutes later. The instructors were watching us and whispering among themselves. Saiyu faced away from them and whispered to me.

"We broke the event record by over a minute," She said, voice silky. "They're deciding whether to fail us or not."

I narrowed my eyes at them. "They can't fail us for doing too well."

"Actually they can." She turned around again. "The only reason I dared attempt it is because you're the Ace. They expect you and those you partner with to do well. It's probably the only thing that will save us."

"You devious bitch," I said accusingly, "You used me!"

She laughed quietly. "Yes, I suppose I did."

I winked at her playfully.

Jin had just entered the pool, and he was struggling. He had barely made an inch of progress, and then started flailing. He was already out of breath, having used all the oxygen in his blood to move those several inches. Poor Jin was the outcast of this class, if we had one. No one really spoke to him. In a class of loners, he was alone. I had never even seen him speak to anybody. He calmed down and heaved at the block again. The other team was several feet in front of him by this time, taking turns to surface.

"He's going to die down there." Saiyu cocked her head to look at him better. "He's weird."

I'm not sure why, but that annoyed me. I pinched the bridge of my nose and looked up as I remembered my childhood. Sighing, I refocused on him. "He'll make it. He's used to not relying on others."

"This is an exercise about teamwork and reliance. Without the other person, you fail. He has no one, and a lifetime of solitude has caused him to be inherently distrustful of others."

"He can learn. He'll make it through this and he'll know he can rely on us."

"But he can't. That's the whole point. They're eliminating him because even if he succeeds, he'll be even more distrustful and bitter about being without anyone."

"No, that's stupid." I was getting agitated. "They can teach him that he can trust us if they would have given him a partner."

Saiyu scoffed. "Why do you care? He's just some orphan. He's incapable of being great."

I backhanded her, sending sprawling on the ground. I focused on Jin at the bottom of the pool, and saw the fear in his eyes. We locked gazes.

"Well?!" I called to the instructors, "Is that it? You're going to fail him because he's an orphan?"

They rounded on me. All three of them surrounded me in a triangle formation instantly. "What did you just say, Initiate?"

"You're going to let him die?" I stared at the female instructor, daringly gazing into her eyes. They were black.

"Yes. He's alone. In order to teach many, sometimes you have to kill one. Besides, he has no family, so he won't be missed."

"FUCKING SAVE HIM!" I grabbed her by the lapel, only to be shoved back.

"Our job is to teach, not to save lives."

I dove for the pool. I felt chakra ignite in my hand as I reached Jin. I shattered the special cinderblock in a fit of rage and grabbed panicking boy by his collar. I surfaced and made for the end of the pool. I tossed him on the side, and hauled myself out. I sat up and grabbed him by the face with one hand as I slapped his back, forcefully expelling water out of his lungs. He looked at me wildly, confused.

"You're not alone anymore, Jin." I moved my hand to the back of his head, and met my forehead to his, starting into his eyes. "You'll never be alone again."

Then I was being hauled away by an instructor, and thrown on to the side of the pool. They were screaming at me to start pushing, so I did. I felt an immense weight on my back and I realized they had placed one of the unsealed cinderblocks on it. I continued pushing.

"If you think you can carry your weight and his, Initiate, then so be it. From now on you will always have this block within arm's length. You will carry it above your head in formation and when in the pool. You will do this in addition to whatever we assign."

As I reached number fifty, I heard a horn blow. I looked around to see Jin, but he didn't have anything in his hands. Two initiates to his left, however, did have horns. The second note blared as they quit. I rumbled in my chest, the words required to join class zero six five.

The next two days were hell. Saiyu did not speak to me after I hit her at the pool. I did not allow anyone in my cot, despite having two offers the first night. I did not speak to any of the other Initiates. Not even Jin. They would have let him die, simply because he was an orphan like me. If I didn't have the Kyuubi, and I didn't make friends because of it…I would be exactly where he is. I would not allow that to happen.

_Initiate, Standby_

* * *

_January 19th of the Early Morning_

We've gotten some semblance of time off. I am still required to haul this stupid cinderblock where ever I go, whether it be to the dining facility or to the gym to work out. We're in an interim phase while we wait for the elder team to finish their program. They're around us doing assorted training tasks. We're not allowed to 'Make Team' until they've finished their final test. It's only a few days away. This part of our training is called Indoctrination.

I was told that this was where we got really destroyed but so far we've just been relaxing. Apparently the information I'd gotten on the AnBu program was incorrect. Go figure. I still haven't spoken to anyone, but Jin and I shared lunch today. He didn't seem inclined to speak either, so that's alright. We sat a bit away from the main group of our class so I could keep an eye on them.

The instructors warned us that even though we're relaxing and allowing our chakra levels to refill (completely unnecessary for someone like me), we still must maintain our edge. Translated to normal person, this means that when we least expect it, they will be attacking us with intent to kill. I should be precise when I describe that; I don't mean intent to kill as in our Genin days attacking Hatake-san. I mean intent to kill as in they're going to actively try to kill us. Considering we just spent the last three months watching the weak individuals die around us, it's not a huge change. Saiyu glanced at Jin and I several times during our meal, but did not initiate a conversation or attempt to join us. That's pretty much all that happened today.

_Initiate, Standby_

* * *

_January 24th of the Late Morning_

We made team today. More accurately, we made teams, plural. The instructors divided us into two separate teams, each with a team leader. I was chosen as team leader for one while the Hyuuga was selected as the other. Both of us assigned element leaders for our teams based on personal experience and merit. I chose Saiyu for her devious nature and innate skill, Jin for his surprising leadership skills and two others. Both were male.

One was a bastard child of the Uchiha clan that did not hold a Sharingan. I pointed at him, surprising both he and the instructors. We started mocking him by calling him Uchiha, which he vehemently denies, claiming the surname Miyagi instead. My fourth and final selection was Hitokiri Hyun. He had a slight build and took claim to an ability similar to the Lord Hokage's superhuman strength. Prior to AnBu recruitment he primarily used the same to fling ridiculously large weapons around haphazardly. I recalled that he stood next to me on the first day of training in formation. He prefers the use of his last name, whereas my other three prefer their personal.

We weren't technically ordered not to call each other by our first names, so it was one of those tiny ways we fought back. My selection of Saiyu was the first time I spoke to her since I slapped her. Even then it was a single word. "Saiyu."

She fell in at the front of my formation along with Jin, Furumaki(the bastard Uchiha), and Hitokiri. Neji made his own selections apart from me and his team marched away. We were told that from then on, we would be sleeping and eating separately. The only time the teams would come together would be to train. Then we were fucked by a five meter dick.

I'm not speaking in euphemism. They brought out a lead-filled wooden beam shamed crudely like a penis, and dropped it at our feet. As they beat us with flexible wooden switches, leaving welts and deep cuts in our skin, we heaved the dick onto our shoulders. Only once it was above our heads did the beating stop. I felt my skin sting and then immediately itch as the Kyuubi attended to my wounds.

The steam rising from my injuries prompted my team to blanch. I heard whispers behind me and knew it was the start of yet more rumors. Something I believe I failed to mention about our Recruitment stage was that I wasn't human. They watched me eat the poisoned food and then during Initiation they noticed how I never seemed to falter during chakra draining exercises. My wounds sealing before their very eyes would now only fuel those rumors and further alienate me from my peers. That was fine, I did not require their approval.

The dick went with us where ever we did. While marching, we continually rotated elements so that no one held the dick for longer than an hour or two. While standing, we were required to hold the dick straight above our heads with our arms flexed, and while marching we were instructed to allow it to bounce on our collar bones, rubbing the skin raw and occasionally fracturing or even outright breaking someone's collar bone. Those students were brought to some sort of remedial training, but still remained on team. I am going to head to bed though, I'm pretty tired.

_Trainee, Alpha Team_

* * *

_February 2nd of the Noon Sun_

For the last week or so we have been doing conditioning and remedial training. We did refreshers on everything we learned in the Recruitment phase and did five mile runs with our dick banging against our shoulders. We learned to hold it a bit offset so it didn't slam on our collars when we ran, but as a result our shoulders took extra strain. Because I was team lead, I ran at the front of the formation. And because I was team lead, I was the one ninja who was not allowed to take my hands of the dick. Ever.

This was in addition to the irritating cinderblock I had chained around my torso. One night while I slept someone had painstakingly carved "Jin's Failure" in the block. I was grateful, because the gouges represented a tiny reduction in mass, meaning it was ever so slightly lighter. Granted, it was only lighter by a few hundred grams, but as was pounded into us by our instructors and now the dick – detail is everything. I wasn't gracious about my burden.

I had positioned Jin in such a way that whenever he was carrying the dick and even when he was in rest period, he would be in such a place where he could always see the writing carved into the block on my back. I slept with it carefully rotated so the writing was always facing him. I wanted him to feel bad, not because I regretted my decision, but because I was feeling bitter and malicious. Because I was Team Lead, no one could comment on it either.

When we weren't running, we had the dick laid across our chests as we did sit ups as a team, or stuck it to our backs with chakra and did push ups. During the last couple days, our instructors have taken to riding on top of it while we run, shouting obscenities at us and occasionally reaching down to beat on us whenever we weren't running at an acceptable speed. The acceptable speed was of course, a dead sprint. We held the dick above our heads while the instructors took sick pleasure in speaking as slowly as possible and giving unnecessarily detailed instructions on what we were going to do next.

My arms felt like lead when I hit my cot each night, and my shoulders didn't have any feeling in them at all. My legs felt like jelly falling asleep and like knotted trees when I awoke. Every day my joins creaked and my spine popped in protest as I swung myself out of bed. We were required to keep everything clinically clean, which wasn't an issue except for the bits of wood, soggy uniforms and all the mud and dirt that clung to our footwear.

Whenever we met the opposing team during a run or even just going to or from the dining facility, the accompanying instructors would yell, "SWORDFIGHT!" and we would charge each other with our dicks until a team dropped theirs. Whichever team dropped their dick was brought to the sand pit to do push ups with the dick on their back while getting beaten by the instructors. The first time this happened, they were dropped on the spot, no sand involved, but it seems as the days wear on, we're going to be beaten even more harshly.

_Trainee, Alpha Team_

* * *

_April 3rd of the Afternoon_

I have not had time or the mental capacity to update this log since last time. The cause behind this is a concept called 'Extended Training Days', which is the schedule we have kept for the last two months or so. ETDs start at zero two hundred in the morning and end at zero zero thirty. After the day ends, we have a half hour to clean our equipment and ourselves, then we are permitted one hour of sleep. On the first day of this, a klaxon and siren sounded in the early hours of the morning, at which point we had gotten perhaps four hours of rest.

We rushed out of our tent and mounted our dick on our backs, then bolted along a lit pathway towards the dreaded sand pits. When we arrived, we learned that in the last few hours, the instructors had removed all the sand and replaced it with something even worse: mud. Naturally, because the entire universe hates special operations, it was raining. We hauled ass through the mile long mud bed, holes sucking at our boots and dragging us down. The rain peppered our faces and our shoulders burned. Whenever someone stumbled and fell, we all had to stop and we were all beaten while the one who had fallen was dragged from the mud and flogged with heavy weighted switches.

Then the hapless trainee was thrown back into the pit where they struggled to get a hold on the penis and carried on. Whenever someone became too injured to continue, it just left the rest of us with more to carry. We heaved over the final edge of the box only to immediately be fired upon with a rain of kunai. They slammed into our dick, causing it to lurch painfully in our grasp as we desperately tried to dodge without dropping our dick. The more kunai that we managed to block with it, however, the heavier it became. I felt the bite of a kunai in my thigh and I stumbled, almost falling.

I felt another kunai hit the block on my back as I twirled in order to avoid a kunai headed for my ribs. Finally we reached the end of this phase and were stupidly relieved when they told us to drop the dick. It thudded to the ground, only to be picked back up again and lowered gracefully when one of our female instructors bellowed at us to respect the dick. We formed up, glad to be rid of the dick but drenched, muddy and freezing. Before us lay a huge mess of vests, various sized pads and what appeared to be thick, fingerless gloves. All the different pieces were mixed together in a big pile, and we eyed it nervously as our instructors addressed us.

"We are not at peace. We are never at peace." The female paced in front of us, blank mask pitted and scarred through long use. I was mildly startled. This was the first time I had seen this style of mask before. I had, of course read and been taught about the different kinds, but this was the first time I had seen one. Normally AnBu are issued and wear porcelain masks.

They are easily reinforced with chakra and fairly simple to make. They were glossy and looked intimidating. In addition, once broken, the chakra matrix within this masks caused the entire thing to crumble into tiny bits, so that no enemy ninja could take the mask from because these masks are brittle, when they crack, the thing shatters also. So an enemy couldn't put the mask on without it breaking, nor could he attempt to break the seal in the mask to allow him to do so without physically shattering the mask.

However, because the mask in front of me was pitted and scarred, I knew it was not porcelain. There was only one other kind of mask, only awarded to the most elite AnBu. These masks were made by and worn by the War Torn, a faction of AnBu who have survived a Great Ninja War. The masks were made from human bone, and only human bone from a direct relation. Therefore, only AnBu who have lost close family (or spouses) during a Great Ninja War were allowed to use these masks. Because they were made from bone, they did not shine except for when wet. The owning AnBu were authorized to decorate this mask any way they pleased.

She continued, "Most of you have grown in a bright world full of rainbows and butterflies. The rare few of you that fought in the Third Great Shinobi War have grown soft in years of peace. War is here, war is now. War is an infernal hell where your most precious people will be torn to the floor, raped and then killed. Your wives will have kunai pushed lovingly into their asses while they choke on enemy dicks in their throats."

She viciously slashed the air in front of her with the edge of her hand. "You are all that stands between your loved ones and this hell."

The woman fingered her mask, then spoke again in a lower, subdued tone. "And if you're not good enough…"

She refocused on us. "They will die screaming your name."

The instructors behind her brought a strange chain and started nailing it along the length of our dick. After they were finished, they pulled each smaller length of chain from the points it was nailed into, and we realized what was going to happen. We were going to have the dick chained to us while we swam. If we had a single iota less of discipline, we would have groaned. The woman in front of us had left, and another instructor dressed in strange gear rounded on us.

He had on subdued black plates that covered his shoulders, upper arms, the outside of his forearms, the back of his hands, and the beginnings of his fingers. He had two plates covering his chest, with overlapping plates to protect his abdomen and small chain linked armor that covered his sides. The plates also ran down his legs, protecting the heavy muscle. His joints were protected by that fine black steel mesh from his sides as well, allowing him a better range of motion. He turned around in a full circle before us, allowing us to memorize the armor. His back had overlapping plates over his shoulder blades and the two long vertical muscles. His spine had several plates that protected it as well, along with a single plate that covered his lower back.

"This armor is much heavier than what you're used to. Tough luck. You'll also learn that you do not have a full range of movement in this gear. As you have already inferred, this is designed for use in wartime. As Special Operatives, you must be proficient in this armor at all times. Of course, the best way to learn is trial by fire. Any gripes, bitches, or complaints?"

He waited a heartbeat. "Good." He addressed me. "You have exactly two minutes to have everyone here with armor. If it doesn't fit, they'll most likely drown. For every minute you are late, you will have to do another lap in the pool with your team. Understand, Team Lead?"

"Yes sir."

"I'd start moving…"

I bellowed, "FALL OUT!" and my team darted for the gear. I quickly relayed instructions to my team, burning a precious ten seconds. "Element leaders will assign gear based on size. You and you will assist me in sorting the gear while they issue it. Jin Small, Saiyu Medium, Hitokiri Large, Furumaki Extra Large."

My assistants and I dove into the pile and immediately started throwing gear at the element leaders. Luckily, each piece was designated with a letter indicating size. I realized the etchings were hurried. I silently thanked whatever past team had identified the sizes for us and continued throwing the many plates at my leaders. In six minutes, all of us were formed up again, with gear that, for the most part, fit.

The instructor chuckled. "Absolutely terrible. Doff your gear."

Recognizing the command, we at once started unlacing the heavy plates when he screamed, "NOT QUICK ENOUGH!"

The instructor grabbed at his neck and pulled, and suddenly the plates fell off him, leaving him in the new AnBu standard attire. "DON YOUR GEAR!"

We complied. "DOFF YOUR GEAR!"

We all reached for our necks and I felt the small loop under my jaw. I yanked on it, and felt a momentary resistance before the entire line came away, causing my gear to slide off my body and onto the ground.

"DON YOUR GEAR!"

We complied.

"GET TO THE DICK!"

We ran and hoisted our dick onto our shoulder while the instructors surrounded us, latching chains onto hooks between the shoulder blades of our gear.

As always, I was at the head of the penis, but even so I had a vague impression of one of the Instructors jumping high into the air and kicking the back of our dick. The chain forced me forward and into the water. We struck out hard, pulling the heavy dick forward. As we completed a lap in the long pool, we reversed instead of flipping the dick around only to get reamed by an instructor and assigned another lap.

That made a total of ten laps. We felt the log pulling us down towards the bottom as we struggled to topple the log end over end, trainees sailing through the air as our instructors laughed. This was ridiculous. Rain continued to hit us in the face, making it difficult to see. It was hard to breath as well, the soaked log only got heavier as it got wetter, causing us to fall beneath the surface and splutter when we reached air again.

The war gear was heavy and because they were plates, they weren't very aquadynamic. This meant that we swimming on its own was difficult because the shape of the armor caused additional drag. In addition to this, the drag from the log was pulling us downwards and the chains pulling on the back of our gear was choking us. We flipped the dick a second time and as I sailed through the air I reflected on whether joining the AnBu was a good idea after all. Then I was slammed back into the water and forced under by the giant, lead-filled wooden penis.

I resurfaced and surged forward with my team, every one of us pushing with our all. On our way to the other side of the pool (our third lap), I thought back to my training with Jiraiya and how I thought that was difficult. It was, in a way. Unfortunately for me, it was hard in a different way. It was difficult because the concepts were complex and you had to pull an insane amount of chakra to complete them, in addition to my failed attempt at sage training where you sit still for hours on end. I thought wildly about summoning a toad to help us haul the dick, but immediately discounted the idea for fear of A) what my instructors would do to us and B) I didn't want to be seen in this scenario: soaking wet, miserable, choking, and tied to a giant penis.

On our tenth length of the pool, we were so tired that the dick hit the end of the pool and we floated there, not caring about anything. Instructors started to scream. "YOU'RE ONLY HALFWAY DONE, YOU LAZY TRAINEES! GET BACK AND DO THE OTHER FIVE LAPS!"

Then it hit me. We had been counting lengths, not laps. This nightmare was only halfway over. I helped flip the log as best I could, and felt myself fly through the air again, slamming into the water. I struck out and started to swim.

Immediately following our swim, we were pulled out of the pool by our instructors and beaten. We were too tired to guard ourselves properly, and we got cut up fairly badly. My wounds hissed as I protected my throat and major arteries, not even bothering to grunt in pain. We were unhooked from the dick, but hauled it above our heads, as was our custom, to our next event.

There, we were told to drop the dick (we did so exceedingly gently this time), and the female War Torn was in front of us again. Once again we were at the start of the mud pits. While we were enjoying ourselves at the pool, someone had spooled C wire all throughout the pit, and I watched as electricity leapt from wicked, serrated point to wicked, serrated point. Also, around the pits were small collapsible towers with AnBu atop them, each brandishing a basket full of kunai. I noted several exploding tags on the kunai.

"War is chaos." The War Torn raised a hand towards the pit. "In war, you feel no pain. There is simply not time for it. During a battle, all that matters is the objective. You cease to be people, you cease to have goals or accomplishments. You are working as a small part of a grand machine, and if any of those smaller parts fail to meet their objective or lose focus, the entire mechanism comes crashing down."

She tapped the side of her bone mask in contemplation. "In war, there is no small mistake. Any consequence of your actions could cause untold destruction and entire families will die because of it."

"Families will die," She repeated, "And your squad mates will die. If you let them down, they die. If they cannot trust you, not only are you useless, you're downright dangerous. In any given situation, their lives outweigh yours every time."

The War Torn walked away, leaving us with our regular instructors. One stepped forward with a bag full of metallic rectangles with writing on them.

"These are explosive notes, inscribed on magnetic plates. They are connected with this wire. Once activated, if one of the plates loses its magnetic hold, it will cause a chain reaction, causing all of them to explode."

Instructors started placing them on the back of our war gear, the magnets holding them in place. I noted with displeasure that the wire connected to each plate was also attached with small magnets.

"If any of you lose your place during this event and go either too slowly or too quickly for your squad, you will all die."

We lined up. As Team Leader, I was going to be first. It appeared as if we were supposed to crawl on our backs under the wire without touching it, while being targeted with kunai, possibly with explosive tags.

"The longer you take, the more difficult the next challenge will be."

I dropped to my knees and moved my cinder block to my stomach, so I could lie on my back. I could already tell it was going to snag the wickedly crackling, razor-sharp wires I was slated to crawl under.

"Begin."


	4. Trainee Pt 2

I began fairly slowly, trying to keep a steady pace so my element leaders and my team knew how fast to move. For the first twenty or thirty yards it was fairly straightforward. The going was slow but the wire was high enough that I could maneuver my block to my side and stay under the wire. Then a kunai embedded in the mud next to my face. An explosion rocked the other side of the pit, spraying mud everywhere.

The roar of it deafened me and I heart only a high pitched whine as more explosions made the ground shake. Bright lights flashed around my vision, and a flash bang note went off directly above me, leaving me deaf and blind. I relied on touch alone to guide my progress through the mud, hoping that no one was slowed down by the explosions or the loss of their sensory input.

The problem was, the mud and water was so cold I could barely feel anything to begin with. My vision slowly returned as explosion after explosion shook the ground around me. A Kunai sank into my block, and the handle touched an electrified wire. I felt my muscles clench as I shook, the water around me only intensifying the feeling of pure pain. I was on fire. I smelled burnt meat and sulfur as I ripped the kunai from my block. The crawl seemed like eternity. We were wet, tired, and scared we were going to die. Then out of nowhere, I felt a boom and something warm peppered my face.

Not caring enough to deal with it now, I continued. A few minutes of muscle-scorching movement later, I felt another explosion and saw kunai slam into the ground all around me an instant before a heavy force hit me in the chest, dazing me slightly. I replayed what happened in my mind and released I had been hit by a kunai, right over my heart. Continuing to crawl, I glanced down and saw only a scrape mark over my heart. The heavy armor had deflected the blade entirely, saving my life. I felt a rush of affection for the gear before a scream rent the air. An explosion drowned it out, though, and I continued crawling.

Every second I was on edge, every movement I made I was terrified that another trainee was going to lag slightly behind or jump the gun a little quicker. Our instructors were ruthless bastards and we were learning how to kill. We were learning how to be the most deadly element of the Shinobi forces. Failure was not an option. We continued heaving through the slick mud.

We spent the rest of the day getting beaten and dragging our dick through the mud. Whenever we were running two instructors would ride atop our dick, standing on each end, and play-swordfight with their heavy switches. We'd run until people start falling down and collapsing, only to be beaten bloody. Then we'd get up and run some more. Somehow, we got rocks in our boots.

They punctured our feet as we ran, and we could feel the liquid in our boots sloshing about, unsure whether it was water or blood. The wet mud got behind our knees, in our joins, and it felt like they were sanded raw. Anywhere skin touched skin. I got splinters in my hands from the dick, causing my hands to swell up and sting. Whatever was on my face from the crawl had started to sting, and whenever I blinked, I got blood in my right eye. I think I bit my tongue, too. That night, I spent most of the half hour break we got before bed having the shrapnel removed from my face. A piece had lodged near the corner of one eye, causing my vision to go red. After that, I returned to my tent to find it gone, and the rest of my team asleep on the rocky ground. I let myself fall over, and joined them.

An hour later we were woken up for day two.

I'm not sure what kept us going. Everyone around you is yelling at you that you can't do it, that you're going to fail and be a nothing and nobody. You yourself believe them. There's no little voice inside you telling you that they're wrong. It whispers to you while you bleed and your muscles burn and your skin peels. It tells you that you don't belong here as you stand outside, holding your dick high above your head as the sun slowly cooks your flesh. It laughs at you as you strain to hear the lecture over the screaming of the wind and light roar of the falling rain. It mocks you and belittles you as your teammates fail, and as each person drops out, leaving the rest of your team to carry more dick, you think about how easily that could be you. All you had to do was abandon your team and take the klaxon.

They were turning us into mean, determined fuckers that would do whatever it took to get the job done, no matter how much pain, blood, sweat or tears it took.

By day three we were sleep deprived. By day twelve I was hallucinating. When we were released from ETDs on the 20th day, I don't even think I realized what that meant. I slept for over thirty hours. They had given us three days of rest, so I spent the following day recuperating with Saiyu in bed. I used that female in such cruel and violent ways that I'm fairly sure the whole experience was illegal.

She left deep nail marks on my back and arms, and even my chest. I had bite marks on my neck and face, and bruises on my back. I, of course, healed almost instantly. I took sick pleasure in causing her pain, and even sicker pleasure in the pain she caused me in return. I realized apathetically that I was growing to like the feeling of pain. It was such a constant in my life now that it was like an old friend.

After we emerged from our vacation, we took count of ourselves. There were now twenty of us left. Since we had split the teams earlier, I deduced that if the other team had fared similarly, there was probably just over forty members of our class remaining. We began advanced training.

We got drop certified, a practice in which a specialized AnBu squad sets up a reverse summoning checkpoint high in the air atop a hawk summons (one of the standard AnBu summon choices), and summoned us over an unknown territory. We learned how to streamline our bodies and mask our chakra signature, and how to alight on the ground from such a boneshattering fall that we wouldn't disturb even a leaf.

We learned how to egress a dolphin summons stomach and rise from the water without so much as a drip to give away our presence, how to enter the water without a splash or even disturbing the current. They taught us lifesaver first aid and how to patch ourselves up. All the while we carried our dick and continued getting beat in the sun.

They dropped us in the middle of a desert and let us find our way home under a time limit, or summoned us while we were sleeping into the bottom of Frozen Heart lake.

Frozen Heart lake wasn't actually in the land of Fire. In fact, it was in the land of Water. Go figure. Anyway, the lake is covered by a three foot thick self-healing layer of ice. Imagine that you lay down for a night's rest, and once you fall asleep, you're suddenly unable to breath and pressed upon by all sides by water. You're terrified and as you look around, there's just enough light to see the faces of past trainees who froze to death scared lost and alone. When you reach the surface you try to break the ice only to realize how thick it is and how hopeless your plight is.

You slam into the ice only for it to heal itself, try fire techniques only to realize it's too cold and wet to ignite anything. You try concussions, but again it's too cold and the ice too thick to do any real damage. Then you get angry. You haven't come this far to die here. You refuse to die without even the good manners of an instructor to dismiss you. You formulate some devious plan to crack the ice, then once you barely break through, you emerge coughing, spluttering, and shaking uncontrollably to a surreal scene.

All around you on the surface of the lake are men and women brandishing weapons, all headed towards the middle of the lake. They are all encased by ice. In the middle there stands a woman, and in her arms she is cradling a child. Her face is turned to the sky and she is howling. From the child protrudes a kunai. From the kunai protrudes a man's arm, connected to the man who is frozen solid, fear written on his face. Then you remember your history lessons. You realize where this is.

It's a chilling tale from the Land of Waters civil war era. Those with a bloodline limit were so fear and mistrusted that they went into hiding or were sought out and killed. This was a member of the Yuki clan. Ice users. The Yuki clan was the origin of Haku, the fake Hunter-nin I had found on the bridge during my first real mission.

As I stood there, remembering Haku, remembering how useless Sakura was, how Kakashi almost died and how Sasuke did die for a moment, I sank to my knees. As the silent snow wafted down around me, I touched the woman's knee. Then, without warning, I vanished, heading back home.

The dining facility shut down. We were no longer allowed to eat at it. Instead, we were woken at zero two hundred and formed up in a tight formation outside. We slung our dick over out shoulders and started to run. Once again, we ran until we collapsed. They beat us just to make sure we actually had collapsed, then beat us a bit longer just for amusement. I had taken to smiling through it. This unnerved some of my team.

I grinned as I got smacked, blood spraying through the air. The little trick we learned in Recruitment about tightening the correct muscles was useless against one of the War Torn. Oh, did I mention that all of our instructors except for the War Torn disappeared? Now we're being taught by five War Torn; the female and five others of unidentified gender. They were all somewhat subservient to her, I think. I'm pretty sure she didn't outrank them, but perhaps she was placed in a position above them. They didn't defer to her, but she was the one who made decisions.

Our days were full of chaos. We woke not knowing whether we were going to be wearing our war gear or not. Most of the time, when we wore our war gear it was going to be a combat heavy day with shrapnel and other hazards. Not always. When we didn't wear it, usually there wasn't as much shrapnel and we didn't have to worry about getting peppered by stray bits of metal or having a wayward tree trunk smash into us.

Then again, not always. On one such day where we were not wearing our war gear, we were told that the dining facility was closed. This wasn't a problem, we had gone for a week without eating before, it was all a part of them game. Then we were notified that for the duration of training, it would be off limits to us. Then we ran through the sand with our dick until breakfast.

Breakfast was at noon. The War Torn female released us and we all stood in the sand, somewhat confused. She tossed a box of crackers into the middle of us, and the fight started. I was backhanded by one of my team members hard enough for the joints in my neck to pop, and my vision swam. I noticed two people dart away from the fight towards the shore of the lake, so I abandoned the melee and followed, curious. When the two resurfaced from the water, each brandished a fish. It was Jin and a girl with dark eyes and brown hair. I nodded at them both.

"Good thinking."

Jin grinned, tossed me his fish and dove back in. I called to my team, and the majority of them turned, then understood and came after me. The War Torn looked on carelessly.

The next day, we couldn't find any fish in the lake. Instead, on the beach, was a pile of rotten fish. The stench from this pile make my stomach roil as we conducted training for the day, and when lunch time arrived, the War Torn again tossed a box of crackers into the group. We hesitated for a heartbeat, and belatedly I realized they were waiting for me. As I realized this, the fight broke out.

I grabbed someone by their short hair and yanked them bodily out of the fray, then kicked someone in the chest and managed to get a single packet of five crackers. I shared them with my element leaders. Hitokiri had managed to get five on his own, so I didn't give him any. However, Karasu had two packages. We divided them up and had our 'lunch'.

The day after that, the War Torn simply held the packet out. Then she beat the shit out of anyone who tried to take it. We found back. We were encouraged to. I'm pretty sure I got points for breaking a different War Torn's arm.

We received training on spears, halberds, daggers, knives, blowpipes, bows, and other primitive weapons. I could kill a man with a leaf, with the wind, with any object you could think about. Then we started survival training.

Let me rephrase. We began anti-torture training. Which is essentially just being tortured. We got blindfolded and beaten and dragged through the sand and the snow and the gravel. We got sick and almost died. We were tied to chairs and beaten some more. We were poisoned and were had the flesh stripped from our fingers.

Being flayed is quite possibly the most painful experience I've ever undergone. Medical ninja regrafted our skin only for it to be peeled off again. They stuck my head in a tub of water and left me there until I started to panic, then pulled me out and beat me. They crammed us all into small cages and raped the females while we men had to listen. Then they reversed the roles, and raped the men while the women listened. Then were made to watch.

Throughout training there is a single thing you are allowed to keep. If you are married prior to coming into this training program, you are allowed to wear your wedding ring. In the paper you sign, it said 'until such time as graduation or until said ring breaks during training.'.

They pulled everyone wedding rings and piled them on the basement floor as we watched, shivering, cold, wet and naked. Blood and semen caked our bodies, mixing with pungent sweat and the sharp tang of fear. They undid their breech armor and pissed on the rings, to no reaction from us. We were beyond caring. Then, they meticulously broke each ring with a hammer as we watched. The pieces were bagged with the trash, and taken away.

That night we didn't watch or listen to any rape. Instead, we were the culprits. They warned us that they would kill our partners if we didn't go through with it, then drugged the males to produce the necessary effect. They partnered everyone up. There were more males than females. All that meant was that some males got partnered with other males.

I got extremely lucky. They partnered me with Saiyu. We made believe being scared and she even managed to cry, the devious bitch.

They brought our minds and bodies to the breaking point. Then they started with the truly sick forms of torture. They started mutilating us. They would take off entire fingers and then beat us until we passed out, then reattach the fingers while we slept. They hooked up a battery to my genitals and shocked me repeatedly while I screamed through a mouth full of rags soaked in piss.

Then the training halted. We were allowed to shower, and given an entire three hours to ourselves with no training and all the food we wanted. Then we had a two hour lecture on torture survival techniques. This sort of training as unique to the War Torn. The female liked for us to experience something with absolutely no training, then given training on what not to do, the idea being that as you are lectured you can draw upon your own experiences to augment what you are taught. We were too numb to do anything of the sort.

We were, however, taught to build a fortress within our minds, a place where no one could touch did exercises where we retreated into our minds and stayed there, and repeatedly had to reemerge upon command. They engrained into us a unique Pull Word to take us from our minds in case we ever sank too deep. Mine is 'Zephyr'.

Whenever I, as a Jinchuuriki, fell deep into my mind, I ended up in the sewers. Except as I walked around, I noticed that somehow I wasn't in a sewer. You know how in dreams, you make a transition and you aren't aware of the transition? It was sort of like that. One moment I was in the sewers and the next I was in a series of hallways, each white and very clean. It was much like a hospital. It had doors along it, clearly labeled. One door was black instead of the normal white, and above it read 'Kyuubi'. I entered and sat in front of the fox, expression blank. I felt the normal, destructive, evil menace from his chakra, but no negative emotions from the fox himself. We started at each other silently for almost an hour. Then I got up and left.

The next day, the anti-torture training started again, from the beginning. We were much better equipped to deal with it, and we handled the stress. I was dimly aware of being partnered with a male counterpart during the third phase of the anti-rape. I was, unfortunately, not the active participant this time.

When we returned from the little outpost we had been doing the anti-torture training at, our teams were changed a bit. Some of my team members were switched with some of Neji's, that is. I noted dryly that some of the ones switched seemed to me like the weaker links, but I accepted the change gamely and continued with training.

Afterwards, we worked on advanced Taijutsu and specialized weapons such as the windmill shuriken and reverse-blade swords. We learned several Ninjutsu and even a few Genjutsu as a baseline to learn more, but none had any real combat application. We learned how to focus fire chakra into such a way that we could bind two metals together, learned how to cause a null space in water to breath in without a reed, etc.

We have one month left of training, and it's all wind-down material, according to the War Torn. We're switching instructors again to our regular set, and we'll learn more specific arts of seduction and the art of the bedroom. We'll learn everything we need to know to fit into any level of society anywhere in the civilized world. This next month is for us to learn how to interact with regular ninja and civilians. The War Torn told us that if we were let loose to walk the streets as we are now, we would cause blind panic and terrify the country. I think she underestimates us. We can't look scary if we can't be _seen._

_Team Lead, Alpha Team_

* * *

_May 1st of the Evening_

Today, we had our final test. As it turns out, they had separated us into two teams for two main reasons. The first was because we only have space for twenty-four graduates, and the second was to avert any disasters like Orochimaru. Over the course of training, you lose your mind. This is expected. However those who can't handle the stress but can handle the training sometimes make it through. The number of these people is frighteningly high. These individuals are too dangerous to be left alive, so we must eliminated them.

Yes, they partnered us with Bravo team and we fought to the death until we only had twenty-four individuals remaining. Our instructors carefully did not sign fights with two sure graduates against each other – that is they wanted both myself and Neji to graduate, so Neji and I did not fight each other. The same went for Saiyu and Jin. Hirokiri was killed by Neji, and I killed one of Neji's element leaders as well. Such is the nature of our lives now. We selected our masks with bloody fingers. I graduated the top of my class as was expected.

Also immediately after testing, I visited the fledgling team out of interest (we had some time off while they prepared the class rankings), and was pleasantly surprised to see Ino had made it through the Recruitment phase.

"Hey."

"Hi."

She seemed more subdued than before. She looked absurd with her bald head and lack of eyebrows, but I remembered how proud I had been and did not remark upon it. I myself had started to grow my hair back, so it was more pronounced.

"The uniform suits you."

"Thanks."

She looked away for a split second, then caught my eye again. She spoke.

"Hey, I have some free time…"

Her body was still wonderfully soft and her skin was milky. Since she was in a lull in training, her skin was clean and tasted sweet. I made sure to taste her thoroughly.

When she came up and swallowed the taste of me, she smiled sweetly and kissed me on the lips, her steel blue eyes flashing.

"So have I earned any insider information, AnBu-kun?"

Chuckling darkly, I flipped her open I spread her legs, feeling them wrap around my back. "Well, Initiate, you're about to get fucked by a big dick."

She made a face. "I meant training."

I laughed out loud and entered her.

When I left her tent, I was met by another Initiate standing directly in front of me. Noting that his tattoo echoed mine, I looked at him passively. I had a strange feeling that he was trying to intimidate me. I almost smirked. Almost.

"Do not touch Ino ever again."

At this I did react. I raised my eyebrow. "I wasn't aware you were in my chain of command, _Initiate_."

He narrowed his eyes. "In three months we'll both be AnBu, and rank will mean nothing. Only merit. You may be the best of your group, but I am better than you are."

He had confidence, the same blind arrogance that I had. I closed my eyes, a very rude gesture to make to an AnBu. Good thing he wasn't AnBu.

"You talk too much."

The Ace attempted to grab me by the throat. Key point was attempted. I calmly reached up and broke his wrist with such blinding speed that he didn't initially seem to know what happened. He growled and looked at me with wide eyes.

"We'll see if you're any better in a couple months, Initiate."

Grinning to myself, I walked away. Spending the rest of my time off sleeping felt like a good idea.

Later that day, I stood proudly before the review board, alone without even my team behind me, as I debated what mask I wanted. I was rewarded a note in my permanent record for my outstanding performance, and then they asked the question I had been waiting to hear for over six months:

"Special Operator Uzumaki Naruto, what is your requested Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai designation and call sign?"

I mulled it over, and then opened my mouth.

"Special Operator Uzumaki Naruto requests designation and call sign Wolf."

Immediately they paused, and for good reason. I had requested a retired designation. I was taking a chance, and I knew it probably wouldn't be allowed, but I had to try. It was the only designation I particularly wanted, if only due to the previous Wolf's perfect mission record. If I were allowed to pull the Wolf out of retirement, not only would it give me a huge advantage over my competition for promotion, it would also open up special missions to me, once I proved I could fill such large shoes.

Since we are only issued a mask once in our entire career, I felt this was worth the risk. The council conferred and I waited their decision. Instead, one of them formed a seal and through a haze of smoke, Hatake Kakashi emerged, looked slightly confused. Within the space of a quarter second his eyes narrowed and he understood. He looked at me appraisingly, paying special attention to my exposed tattoo.

"Maa, maa, why would you call me here so suddenly?"

"This Special Operator has requested your retired designation. Should we consider his request, we first require your approval."

"Naruto, you asked for the Wolf call sign?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Hm…" He looked up and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, alright."

The council further deliberated, and I thought I heard mention of the Kyuubi. Annoyed, I spoke up.

"Honorable Council, if I may?"

They looked slightly affronted but even more startled that I had dared interrupt them.

"Speak." An amused looking council member tilted his head to the side, the black lines on his bone mask seeming to absorb the light. He was the head of the War Torn.

"I believe through trial by fire and by your, ah, extensive psychological tests and stress inducing training that I have more than proven my hold over the Kyuubi. I would ask that the Honorable Council judge my record based on myself alone, and if it please the council, disregard the denizen I have an ironclad control over."

They bent to deliberate some more, but only for a moment. One member shook his head, but the War Torn tilted his head somehow threateningly. I thought I heard a sigh. They straightened up, and the War Torn tapped the table lightly with his hands as he addressed me.

"Special Operator Uzumaki Naruto, by the autho-"

"Maa, maa, actually I think I'm the one who gets to do that." Kakashi eye-smiled at the War Torn, and then gestured for me to follow him. I stood and left he council, following him wordlessly through passageways until finally we arrived at a door. I recognized it from my textbook. "Anyway, my mask is in here."

My old sensei knocked lightly on the door and the complex sealing mechanism started falling apart, culminating with the door swinging slightly open. "Oh, it opens on its own now. That's fancy."

I followed him inside a circular room lit from the sealing. Arrayed around on the wall were the eleven discontinued or retired masks of the Konoha AnBu. Each mask was backlit by a camera. I noted a wooden mask and several bone masks. Kakashi took his mask from the holder and stared at it for a moment. Then he handed it to me. It was made from bone.

"Sensei…I.." I paused, then looked at him. "I didn't realize."

"Mm." He looked at me levelly.

"If I'm going to be the next wolf…" I paused, glancing at the mask. "I shoul-"

"Nohara, Rin." He looked away from me. "She was on my Genin team, and she was also taught by your father."

I was silent for a long minute. "Thank you, sir."

"Mm." He snapped suddenly to a rigid attention, and out of pure habit, so did I. "Maa, Special Operator Uzumaki Naruto, as the previous Wolf I hereby authorize you to embody this persona and designate you Wolf, with all accolades and call signs associated. In addition, the techniques associated with this persona will also be taught to you over the course of the next week."

"Thank you, sir."

"You'll also be automatically selected for Special Assassination and Terrorism."

He nodded to me as I pulled up my skin tight hood to hide the shape of my hair and placed the mask on my face, completing my Dress Black attire. I looked impressive, and deadly. The aura and fear associated with the mask I now wore radiated from my body, and I felt a strange emotion from Kakashi.

"Wolf-san." Then he was gone. It was a testament to his incredible speed that all I saw was a slight after-image. It was a level of speed I had never seen Kakashi use before. _Just how much do you hold back every day, Kakashi?_

I wasn't sure what to do with myself, so I appeared on Sakura's doorstep some minutes later. I knocked.

_Wolf, Special Assassination and Terrorism Division_

* * *

**End of Chapter Two**_  
_


	5. Apprentice Pt 1

**Chapter Three:**

_Apprentice_

* * *

_May 6th of the Quiet Night_

Sakura hadn't been sure what to make of me. I was in full AnBu attire, oozing deadliness with my mask clipped to my belt. Officially, we weren't allowed to wear our uniforms off duty. Unofficially, I didn't much care. I had spent the last six months undergoing the most intensive training of my life, and I wanted it to show. I wanted to scare her. I succeeded.

When she opened the door, her vision was obscured for a split second by the doorframe. I used this to my advantage and slid in neatly above her head, causing a bare breath of air to caress her face. I now stood inside her house, behind her. She looked around her front stoop, confused. I remained silent.

Finally, she shut the door and turned around, not expecting or even fully registering me for a moment. She jumped, making a hilarious squeaking noise and brandished a kunai at my nose. I noted that her grip was slightly less than ideal. She had her thumb wrapped around the hilt. We were taught to hold our thumb along the handle, so if a ninja were to take control of our kunai, we wouldn't get our thumbs broken. I also noted that while her stance was by no means sloppy, the surprise had caused her to point her toes slightly inwards, opening up a knee as an easy strike point.

"Hello, Sakura."

"N-Naruto!" Dropping her kunai, she hugged me and I felt her immense strength. It seemed that she had not been idle either. "I've missed you! Tell me all about training!"

I hemmed and hawed and told her that it was top secret, but since she was apprenticed to the Hokage she _did_ technically have clearance so I the first part of my story in full detail, but she interrupted me.

She was shocked. She blanched and seemed outraged. "What do you mean you killed Lee?"

"He failed an event in Phase One. They were warned. I had to kill him so the rest would understand how high the stakes were."

"Lee was an incredible Shinobi! He was so powerful!" She stood and took several steps away from me. "You killed to _make an impression_ on the other recruits?!"

"Well, yes." I pointed at her. "You don't have the right to judge this program. Shut your mouth and listen.

"The AnBu are special operators, a highly covert and highly dangerous element of our military force. We are expected to complete missions that most Jounin would consider suicide missions. That's why they're called S-Rank. Suicide-Ranked missions. On these missions we will be put under immense stress, and have to make sacrifices that even normal ninja won't ever have to make."

I paused for breath, and then continued, "Our Special Operators have to be wicked, cunning, and sly. They have to work around problems, not crush through them. Lee was ill-suited to this kind of training and it showed in how quickly he was eliminated. As soon as you're flagged for AnBu, you sign your own death warrant. Our training, particularly the initial phase, is highly classified. There are secrets in this program that _cannot_ be leaked in any way, so as a consequence, those people had to die."

"Naruto, this goes against EVERYTHING this village stands for. There's no way Tsunade-sensei would allow something like this to happen!"

"Grow up. The brightest lights throw the darkest shadows. You think we're powerful because of some stupid protector ideal? No, we're strong because we have special operators exerting the will of the Hokage, we're strong because our ninja and civilian base believes we're the good guys. Why do you think we are so hated in Iwa? In Kumo? Hell, even our alliance with Suna is strained. It's because they know that we're vicious and cutthroat, but think we're so high and mighty. Konoha is a beacon of justice because all the dirty, dark and wicked secrets are kept and the evil deeds are done by us."

Sakura opened her mouth again, but I spoke over her, my commanding presence overshadowing whatever entitlement she felt as the Hokage's Apprentice.

"Shut your mouth. It's not your place to pass judgment on me or my actions." I paused, remembering. "I have made too many sacrifices and gone through too much to allow some self-righteous powerhouse in the Regular Forces to talk down to me."

And suddenly I was gone. I left her gaping after me, as I reported to Headquarters. There, I met my team leader. He wore the old grey version of the AnBu uniform, and as I later learned, the black versions had not been fully phased in yet. He wore a white porcelain mask with red and black markings in a tiger design. He paused when he saw my mask, and then appeared to regard me more fully.

"So you're the new Wolf." The mask at his hip showed more emotion than his face did. "Interesting. I served under the old one, did you know that?"

"Negative, sir." This man served under Kakashi. That was interesting as far as team assignments go. I wondered idly whether it was intentional or not.

"You may refer to me as Tiger during ops and Tenzo off-duty." He shuffled some papers, searching for something, and then pulled my file and wrote something on the margin of my page. "You're also going to need a code name for off-duty, as a precaution. Your friends will have to identify you with this name, so don't make it unreasonable."

"I understand." I considered it. "Will Karasu work?"

"A crow to the scarecrow. Interesting." He made another note. "You're to present yourself to the Lord Hokage immediately, and after she's done with you, you are dismissed until Tuesday at zero-five."

"Understood."

With that simple exchange, I left. Since I was outside headquarters and not breaking regulations anymore, I reattached my mask to my face, feeling the chakra matrix settle around my features. Within a few moments, I was at the window of the Lord Hokage. She appeared to be in a meeting, but as an AnBu, one of my primary missions was the protection of the Lord Hokage…so I flattened myself on the wall, maintained my iron grip on my chakra signature, and allowed their voices to drift from the unsecured window.

"Look, Gai, I'm aware that you haven't heard from him." The Hokage sounded annoyed. "AnBu training is very intensive. I doubt he'll have had time to write back, even if he was allowed to."

"But Tsunade-sama, I know my Lee! The only reason I agreed to this stupid idea was that he promised to write me every single day!" Gai was clearly distressed. "My Lee's youthful exuberance wouldn't flag! He would have written me by now, there's something wrong!"

"Gai, you are a Jounin of this village." Tsunade softened. "Lee is a fine Shinobi. I'm sure he's doing well."

That's when I felt a familiar chakra signature approaching the office. _Oh no._ Sakura's voice sounded in the hallway outside the Hokage's Office, and then the door burst open.

"Tsunade-sensei, we need to talk!" I heard footsteps then a thump. I saw in my mind's eye Sakura walking across the room and hitting the desk with her hands. "This AnBu training program is sick and twisted! How could you let this happen?!"

"Sakura, calm down,"

My ex-teammate interrupted her. "No, you listen. Naruto just visited me. Do you know what they made him do? They made him kill Lee, _just to make an impression!_"

"…"

"S-Sakura?" Gai's voice was strange. "He…k-killed…?"

I felt a Gai mold chakra, and his signature started away at a very high speed.

"God DAMNIT Sakura!" There was a splintering sound and as the desk shattered, I appeared behind and to the left of Sakura. "Naru-"

"Karasu," I corrected, "My name is Karasu."

"Is this true?"

"Affirm, Lord Hokage, Lee is dead."

"I'm not talking about Lee you fool!" She leveled her hand at me. "Is it true you were talking to Sakura about your training? You know full well that it's classified!"

"Lord Hokage…" I paused, somewhat confused. "Ma'am, Sakura is your apprentice. As per regulation, she is privy to the same information regarding Special Operations as you are, as she is considered the next Hokage candidate."

Tsunade pinched between her eyes. "Thanks to both of your indiscretion, we have an incident with Gai."

"Sensei, you can't mean to tell me you knew about this?!"

"Shut UP, Sakura!" The Lord Hokage addressed me, "I expected better from you, Karasu. You were authorized the Wolf mask and given special assignment to SATD, and on your first day, no not EVEN your first day, you cause an intelligence violation?"

I lowered my head. "My apologies, Lord Hokage. It will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't." She faced Sakura. "You, stupid girl, just let Lee's adoring sensei know that his foster son was killed by someone he considered a friend during a training program he was vehemently against allowing Lee to attend."

Sakura was still outraged. "SENSEI, THEY MADE NARUTO KILL HIS FRIEND! THAT IS NOT KONOHA!"

Tsunade opened her mouth to retort, but her apprentice also hit her desk, causing the remains to break still further. "NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE KONOHA WOULD ALLOW THIS; THAT _YOU_ WOULD ALLOW THIS!"

The Lord Hokage stood, and as she did, I subtly moved a bit closer to Sakura. Tsunade leveled her hand at her apprentice.

"What I allow is for the good of this village. Someday, when you have grown up, you'll understand that. You've made it painfully clear that you're not ready for the responsibility or commitment of being my heir to the title Sannin, let alone taking over any of my duties as Hokage." Sakura stood with her mouth slightly open, shocked. "What's more, you will not tell another soul of this matter. The death of Lee will be noted as a training accident. You will mourn him with his friends. You will _not_ tell them the specifics."

"I…" Tsunade cut her off.

"Do you understand, Sakura?" The Hokage narrowed her eyes dangerously. "There will be consequences."

"Y-yes sensei." Sakura looked at her shoes. I noted that her fists were both clenched and trembling, causing the fabric of her gloves to tighten and make very low rasping noises. I watched a tear drop from somewhere in front of her to the ground, and thought idly, _pathetic._

"You are dismissed."

Sakura didn't even bother to leave through the door, instead opting to throw herself haphazardly out of the Hokage's window. I faced my bone mask towards Tsunade, and waited.

"I was going to congratulate you and offer to take you and Sakura out for dinner, but in light of what's happened, I need to put a cap on Gai. Naru-"

"Karasu," I corrected a second time.

"Karasu, then." Her eyes got softer. "I sometimes wonder whether it was the right choice to put you through AnBu training. You've changed so much in so little a time."

"I'm no longer a bumbling idiot." I continued to hold her with what I knew was an intimidating stare. "I'm a highly training, highly honed, brutally efficient killer. I am what Shinobi are meant to be."

"But are you who your father wanted you to be?"

"My father?"

She pinched her nose. "I promised myself that I'd tell you if you made it through training."

_If._ Of course she had no real faith in me. I wouldn't have, either. I was a stupid kid before the AnBu.

The Hokage swiftly walked to the other side of her office and knelt in front of a book shelf. After removing a false panel and deactivating a security seal, she turned back to me and held a roll of parchment aloft. I noticed that the edges of the paper were reflecting light, and as I took it from her, I realized that it was gilded. This paper alone was probably worth more than I made in a year as a Genin.

I unrolled it and noticed the Lord Hokage's seal on the top, with a brief set of instructions. Below that was a brownish thumbprint with the name _Namikaze Minato_ inscribed in flowing letters next to it. Along the same line, a different fingerprint was next to _Uzumaki Kushina_. There was a complex seal array below both the names, the spirals and terminals of which came down to surround a blank area on the very bottom of the scroll, about the size of a quarter. I looked at the Hokage.

"These are my parents?" I was glad my mask kept her from seeing my face. This was one of the rare times my control slipped. The Fourth Hokage was my father? Or was I misunderstanding this?

"Yes."

_Yes._ The word reverberated through me. I'm not sure what went through my head, but for the second time today I broke protocol, leaving Tsunade's office in the same method Gai did, by using a body-flicker technique. As a Genin, I had always thought this was a teleportation technique, but really all you do is catalyze your muscles with chakra and use something to mask your movement. After all, if it _were_ a teleportation technique, what made the Flying Thunder God Technique so impressive?

I fled through the village, moving from shadow to shadow, avoiding everyone. Not a single soul witnessed my mad flight through the rooftops and alleyways of Konoha.

I vaulted over the fence to Training Ground 44, landing lightly on a tree root. I shot forward, intent on going deeper into the Forest of Death.

In the older and more brutal days of Konoha, this forest was unremarkable. During the first and second Shinobi wars, Konoha was unable to provide for all of its residents. These days the old and infirmed live in the slums of the village, begging and living off the charity of others. During war time, these slums swelled to unmanageable sizes. The entire village worked towards the war effort, and places that had no relevance to the war quickly went out of business. Those business owners could then not afford to support their family. Some could not face the guilt of not being able to provide for their families and hung themselves in this forest. Other times, the older members of the family (or in some cases the very young) took it upon themselves to go to this forest to die.

It kept the village from choking itself and dying as a whole. Crippled ninja with no retirement or way to work also chose, in many cases, to die in this forest. The ambient chakra they exuded, along with their misery, bonded with the nature chakra of this place and caused it to…change. The abundance of potent chakra from ninja who weren't medically critical but had lost the will to live caused the creatures and plants to start growing, and as a result, the creatures started to gain new defenses to protect themselves from each other.

Only the most dangerous animals and insects survive in here. And only the most dangerous Shinobi dared come here on a regular basis. I, of course, didn't come here often after my initial Chuunin test, because I had other priorities. Deep in my mind, I sought to become 'strong' by working hard. It had never crossed my mind to temper that strength with cunning, or cautiousness, holding on to a foolish gilded ideal of Konoha, where the sun shone from the Hokage's ass and everyone loved everyone. As a Genin, I dreamt of a village with justice and peace. Now, after going through what I have gone through, after killing one of my closest friends for no reason other than discipline and to make a point, I realize how dark we really are.

We lie to our military and to our civilians about how sick and twisted this village, this Nation is. That's why we destroyed those recruits who didn't have the mental capacity to make it through Recruitment. Because they, with their inferior deductive skills and inferior drive, couldn't be trusted to understand the greater good that came from our darkness. Because we do the unthinkable, a peace can befall those blissfully ignorant of our real duties. Those few of us strong enough to be wicked silently allow the weaker to believe in heroes like the Yondaime Hokage, who really slaughtered thousands of ninja, leaving countless orphans and grieving mothers. Such is the nature of the powerful.

I continued deeper into the forest, not bothering at this point to mask my presence, effortlessly gliding through flashing jaws and scything claws of startled predators. I clutched the parchment to my chest with one hand, mind moving from the black of Konoha to the legacy I had been born with and subsequently lied about. Instead of continuing my breakneck pace, I locked my legs out, slamming into the gigantic trunk of an ancient tree with enough force to crack the bark and expose the brighter living part of the tree to the open air. I dropped to the ground, and leaned against the tree, holding the paper with shaking hands before my eyes. _Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina_. The Yellow-Flash of Konoha and Konoha's Red-hot Habanero.

Both of them heroes who had never went through the horrors of Special Operations training. Both of them shining examples for the youth to follow. I took off my mask and clipped it to my belt. I ran one hand through my hair as I looked at the strange lines and twirls on the paper, small written commands in a language I didn't know but one that seemed familiar. I could almost understand the meaning, if not the exact definition.

The lines connected, spun around each other, and then formed a thicker, jagged line. A bond. The white space left on the bottom of the paper had a name next to it as well. It was my name. Looking at the finger prints, I recognized them as blood. It was obvious that I must add my blood to accept my inheritance.

I felt conflicted. This was the family I had always wanted. I was given it now, when I have never wanted it less. My training had taught me self-sufficiency, and I loved the idea that I answered to no one. I didn't have to worry about leaving a widow. I didn't have to worry about anything except my deadly purpose.

I was interrupted prematurely by a slight whistling. Recognizing the sound from years of experience and intense months of practical training, I pivoted on the ball of one foot and kicked out my leg, redirecting the incoming kunai almost straight into the air. It impaled a snake to the inside of a tree branch, and I dropped to the ground, pinning two more venomous creatures with either hand. I heard a soft rustle and flexed my legs, sending me sideways into a butterfly twist as I extended my arms, using the snakes as makeshift whips. I felt one connect briefly, and as my attacker recoiled, I crushed the snakes and brought my blade to the soft underside of her neck.

"Miterashi Anko. Tokubetsu Jounin rank. Which means," I said calmly, "That you are an AnBu failure."

She opened her mouth and covered it with her fingers in mock surprise. "Oh, insults from a big bad special operator. What a surprise."

"Why did you attack me," I asked, "I did nothing to you."

"Why did you come into my forest," She countered, "you're violating my home."

I had nothing to say to that, so I rotated my blade and allowed it to slide back into its sheath.

"Get out."

I looked at the ground. "I-I'm sorry. I just…wanted to be alone."

Abruptly, she clapped her hands together and grinned. "Aw, how cute! I caught an AnBu in a moment of weakness!"

"Fuck you." I turned my back on her, catching the scroll with my toe and flipping it into my hand. As I started to walk away from her, she spoke.

"How about a deal?"

I paused, and turned my head to catch her in my peripheral vision. "I'm listening."

"We'll spar." She cocked her head at me. "If I win, you leave here forever. If you win, I'll let you play in my forest, and I won't even spy on you. Most of the time."

I turned to face her again. "That seems fair."

I replaced myself with a bit of air behind her and caught her arm as she twisted. She may be a special Jounin, but I was a special operative. I used my superior strength to twist her to the ground and nicked her skin with the kunai at her kidneys, lungs, and finally the side of her neck before once again using the Body Flicker to remove myself from her as snakes bit down on the air I had occupied a moment earlier.

"God damn you." Anko stood, wiping the slight marks of blood from herself. "That wasn't a spar at all!"

I smirked at her. "When a kitten provokes a tiger, you don't expect a good showing."

"You're awfully sure of yourself, _Genin_."

"Am I supposed to be impressed that you recognized my facial markings and eye color?" I replaced my mask, annoyed. "And it's AnBu now."

"No need to get all moody." She dusted herself off, and then sighed. "Fine, you can stay. Just be careful; I like this forest the way it is."

"I'll do my best not to destroy too much landscape."

Anko left, and I soon did as well. This particular part of the forest suddenly didn't feel as anonymous as it had minutes previously. Deciding to deal with both the scroll and my family issues later, I went home.

My small apartment was covered in dust and old bits of half-cleaned mess. The dishes from when Sakura made me food were still in the sink, and there were motes of dust suspended in the air. I sighed, unhooked my mask and set to cleaning. I filled several trash bags and simply threw out most of my possessions. I kept only the major appliances and a picture of Team 7, back before Sasuke defected. I looked positively silly glaring at my brother-figure. I recalled sensei leaving me baskets of fruit to make sure I ate something at least somewhat nutritious.

It was a different sort of gesture now that I knew who my father was. Namikaze Minato was Kakashi's sensei. Before I learned of my father's identity, I had just assumed that he was doing this as a teacher. Now I realize he was trying to look out for me. I sighed. How ironic was it that the child of the hero Yondaime would be hated in his own village?

I looked over my now clean apartment. It was bare of everything except a refrigerator. I even had torn out the carpet, just to be thorough. When one walks in to my apartment, they would step in to the living room. The kitchen is a part of this room, segmented off by an island counter. Inside the kitchen were counters and a fridge. In the living room was nothing, as I had just torn everything out. Walking through both parts of the apartment, one would enter a hallway, with a bedroom on the left and a bathroom on the right. At the end of the hallway was a window looking down into the alleyway between two buildings.

My bedroom featured a slide-open closet that was now bare except for four identical AnBu uniforms, a fifth uniform of formal Dress Blacks, a lightweight dress black coat that looked somewhat like a form fitting leather jacket, two all-weather black cloaks, and various footwear for different areas. I had full combat boots that were shined so well I could see my reflection in them for my Dress Blacks, regular combat boots, and boots with segmented toes. All of which were black.

In addition to all of this, I had a set of up-armored gear; the kind we had learned to use during training. I owned no other clothing, as I had just thrown it all out. I left a bag of my ninja gear in the bottom of the closet, out of the way, and went to sleep on the floor with both my picture and my heritage scroll within arm's reach.

_Wolf, Special Assassination and Terrorism Division_

* * *

_May 13th of the Red Morning_

Any expectation of rest was shattered as our Captain woke me while the sky was still not yet grey. I was to arm up and report to AnBu HQ immediately. I was there within six minutes. I entered through the main doors of my Fire Team's briefing room to find my three team mates already present. Our captain wasted no time in explaining our mission. He stood before a graphical display of the different countries.

"Jiraiya-sama's spy network has discovered an envoy traveling from Iwagakure to Kirigakure. The purpose of which is to secure a treaty between the two villages in the event that a war breaks out with Konoha. In order to prevent this from happening, we are going to intercept that envoy on its return trip here," He indicated a village marked by three diagonal lines, "In the former ninja village of Yugakure. They have since demilitarized and now the only purpose they serve is a rest spot famous for their hot springs."

He walked over and marked Iwa and Kumo with a line.

"As you know, Konoha is unofficial enemies with both Kumo and Iwa, so in the event of a war, we can expect to be fighting both nations at once." He paused, "If you add Kiri to that list, the scales are suddenly tipped dramatically in their favor."

Tenzo linked Kiri with Iwa. "Once we're on site, we're going to assassinate this envoy and bodyguards and replace whatever Kiri wrote in reply with a denial, thus driving a wedge between the two villages."

He marked a line bisecting the previous line between Iwa and Kiri. "What's more, we're going to make it look like a disagreement broke out with three Kumo nin. The reason we chose former Yugakure is because these ninja are taking leave to enjoy the hot springs."

My teammates chuckled. The Captain went on,

"This will put a strain on the relationship between Iwa and Kumo, while also causing turbulence between Kiri and Kumo." He crossed out the remaining lines connecting the three villages.

The AnBu to my left spoke up, "So if this op goes as planned, we'll prevent an alliance between those countries when they decide to get froggy."

"Correct. And even if they do, there will be stigma between their Shinobi and a certain lack of trust we can exploit."

He focused on me. "This is Karasu, our new Apprentice. This, of course, will be his first op."

The AnBu who had spoken earlier turned to me. She wore a cat design with red and purple stripes. "Ooh, Wolf! Well lesson one: Mistakes here won't just get you killed, they'll start wars. So don't fuck up."

I blinked behind my own mask as my other team mate looked at me as well. He wore a hawk mask with red and yellow paint. "Don't worry. If you screw up too badly you won't be alive long enough to watch your friends screaming in pain."

"Alright that's enough." Tenzo sounded amused. "Stop trying to scare the little guy. He graduated as _Ace_ after all."

Both my teammates made an absurd "oooooOOOO!" sound as if they were amazed. I sighed.

We reached Yugakure three days later, and installed ourselves at a fancy hotel. It was the largest building in the entire city. And we rented the very top floor. We were wealthy silk dress manufacturers en route to meet with the Fire Daimyo's wife to discuss her daughter's wedding dress, and had stopped to enjoy the hot springs on the way. The penthouse was huge. It covered the entire top floor and had three bedrooms, a full sized living room that was bigger than my entire apartment, and a kitchen so well equipped that I could have prepared a seven course meal without any assistance. As soon as we arrived, the Hawk AnBu, whose name was Higa, started blacking out the windows using our traveling cloaks tacked over the provided blinds. We were all dressed in our black combat regalia, even our captain. Higa had medium length light brown hair that fell somewhat over his mask.

My other team member, Yugao, had long purple hair that just reached her waist. Since we were traveling incognito, we assumed our disguises and set out to get a feel for the city as soon as the hotel suite was secured. I was dressed in a ridiculously soft kimono and sandals, with dark hair dye and hair extensions to provide added disguise. My hair was a light brown color and fell below my eyes. On my thigh were strapped four kunai and four senbon. On my right index finger was a silver ring in the shape of a wolf's head. The eyes were exquisitely cut sapphires, to match my eyes. Once hit, the ring would send a distress signal to my team. It also monitored my heartbeat, and if the same were to stop, the signal would be sent.

We spent the day gathering intel on the city layout and exactly where everything was situated. It was a rather boring day, all things considered. The only thing worth mentioning was when we split into two man teams to finish recon on the outer edge of the city. Higa and I went through the slums, pretending to be lost. I watched a youth stagger out of an alleyway and 'accidentally' run into Higa, deftly slipping his hand into Higa's sash and extracting the moneybag there.

In the space of the four seconds or so it took for this to play out, I noted the boy was about nine, had dirty blond hair that ran down his face to his chin. His skin was very dark. He darted away from my AnBu partner with his money.

Needless to say, Higa noticed. As the lad tried to escape, Higa grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him lightly to the ground in front of him. Then he just stood and looked sternly at the boy. Neither said anything while they glared at each other. Finally the boy threw the moneybag at Higa and tried to escape, only to be grabbed again and spun around. My partner had sunk to one knee, and while he kept one hand on the boys shoulder, he handed the boy the bag of money.

"I'll be having dinner at the BBQ house near the springs day after tomorrow." He paused while he looked at the boys clothes. "I'll leave you new clothes here tonight. Wear them when you show up at the restaurant."

"Why?" The boy was still glaring. "You're just going to hurt me or try to sell me!"

"Shut up, boy." Higa cuffed the back of his head softly. "I was a street rat once. That's why I'm buying you dinner. I'm giving you the money because I want you to keep an eye out for any Ninjas from Iwa. We're trying to expand our business and we want to make sure we don't miss them. There's more where that came from for anyone who can tell me anything about them, understand?"

"Yeah, okay."

The boy ran off as Higa stood and looked at me. He shrugged.

"Were you really a street rat?" I asked, curious.

"Maybe." He turned to leave. "Who knows."

After that we just waited. Higa took the street rat out to dinner and learned that the Iwa delegation had arrived. Tonight we're going to intercept them, and we should be back to Konoha by the end of the week. That's all really so far.

_Wolf, Fire Team Alpha, Fourth Squad_

_Special Assassination and Terrorism Division_

_Special Operations and Warfare, Konoha_


	6. Apprentice Pt 2

_May 16th of the Early Afternoon_

Before we left on the op, I was pulled aside by Tiger. He told me to expect everything (I already did) and to be prepared for the unexpected (I was). He said that as soon as the operation kicked off, the plan we had would go to shit, so be prepared for it to fall apart. I was already prepared for this, so I gamely accepted his advice and continued my preparation.

We wore our kimono's to the hotel that the three Kumo ninja were staying at. Yugao knocked on the door with a clipboard and pencil, her kimono just slightly too open for a professional businesswoman. A Chuunin answered, his headband arrogantly displayed despite being on leave, and grinned lecherously at her. Yugao fluttered her eyelashes and told him how much she'd _love_ to talk about the fine line of evening wear we provided in private with him and his friends.

He let her in and locked the door behind her. As soon as the lock clicked shut, Tenzo was at the handle, picking the lock. The door swung open to reveal Yugao already stripping one of the new corpses of his gear.

Because all three ninja were males, Yugao was to be our overwatch while we conducted the operation. Tenzo warned me not to screw up again as we sauntered through the village, loudly talking about made up nonsense in Kumo. We arrived at the bath house and entered the changing room laughing loudly. Higa shoved me into a locker and I feigned throwing a punch at him.

We settled down and started stripping out of our gear, which we left in a locker. Because we were impersonating ninjas, keeping weaponry on us wouldn't be a problem. Higa chose to wear a kunai as a pendant on a chain about his neck, and Tenzo kept a small wakizashi on him. I wore my Kumo forehead protector and twirled two senbon about my fingers as we walked into the steaming entryway.

The Iwa delegation was made up of five ninja. Four of which were here, and one was presumably at the hotel. We splashed into their pool, greeting them loudly. Higa waved cheerily and sank into the pool, moaning his approval. I sighed as I sat on the side.

The Iwa ninja were allied with us, but there is always tension between ninja of two different villages. My heart pounded as I counted all the things that could go wrong. They could freak out. They could recognize one of us. They could see how nervous I was. One of them narrowed his eyes at me. Just when I was about to panic, Tenzo clapped me on the shoulder and laughed.

"Sorry about my boy here. He's only a Genin so he hasn't met ninja from another village yet. He's all nervous."

Higa laughed and splashed water at me as Tenzo shoved me under the water. I surfaced and coughed, muttering and looking away, as though offended and embarrassed.

The ninja from Iwa visibly relaxed, which caused my heart rate to drop a bit. We were alright. We could do this. I allowed myself to slide further in the water to hide my 'blush', and to calm myself. Only my eyes were above the water now.

My earpiece clicked as Yugao fed us information about the missing ninja. He was not at their hotel, nor was he anywhere en route to the springs. We would have to wait for the assassination until he was found and dealt with. What's more, he would have to be corralled into the hot springs to look as if he was part of the accident.

We still had to prepare to take these guys anyway. I rolled a senbon to my toes and passed it ever so slowly to Higa, who stepped on it. I leaned back against the rocks again, taking a breath and slowly releasing it as I looked at the ninja across from me, marking him as my target. Tenzo sank lower in the pool, and stretched, marking his target as the one to the left of mine. Higa did nothing, as he knew the final two targets were his.

"I wish Yugao would hurry up," He complained, "She's taking forever."

The kunoichi in question swore at him through our headset. We sat for 20 minutes, exchanging idle conversation with the Iwa ninja, and relaxing in the pool. One of them stood.

"It's been a pleasure getting to know you all, but I believe it's time for us to retire for the night."

Tenzo nodded at him. "It's always good to hear from our friends in Iwa. It's too bad you couldn't stay any longer."

Yugao swore again as she took the hint. The ninja all started out, passing in front of us.

We had to do something. They were leaving. Now what? This wasn't going to plan. Where WAS that guy anyway? Shit shit shit shit shit.

Higa rose from the waters. "Excuse me,"

"Yes?" One of the ninja turned to him.

"You dropped something."

Higa was positioned between two ninja. Three of them were in front of him, leaving. The fourth was behind him, slightly behind the person he was addressing. Higa held his hand out, and then lost balance, lurching forward. To catch himself, he flung his foot out and juked backwards. Three ninja fell into the water dead.

My target jumped to the roof as my senbon flew over his head, and I pursued him, striking him in the back with my fist hard enough to crack his spine. Tenzo was suddenly beside me and executed the ninja with a lightning based technique. We dropped to the ground and he fired a second technique from the water, scorching the roof next to the ninja, making it look like the attack was long-range.

I looked around at Higa, who was already placing the bodies of the dead Kumo ninja. I tied my forehead protector around one as I mentally replayed that had just happened in my head.

Higa had slipped, and then juked backwards, causing his kunai necklace to swing around his neck and neatly slice the throat of the ninja behind him as he struck his foot out, to which the senbon was attached via chakra, and struck the ninja in front of him in the heart. As Higa did this, Tenzo sent a small current through his leg, which was outstretched below the water, and stopped the heart of his target. When I had realized what was going on, I launched my needle just a second too late, allowing the final ninja to realize what was happening and run. Fortunately, we had killed him. We egressed to our gear, which had been thrown into a bin outside the hot springs, and donned it. We clung to the shadows, and fanned out to find the final ninja.

We had taken maybe jumps to shadows before there was an "_Urk!" _across our coms and Yugao's duress went off.

Immediately we converged on her location, only to find her tacked to a wall with a katana. Her foot was embedded in the neck of the attacking ninja, and from the toe of her sandal, a leaf-shaped blade extended and was stuck into the ninja's neck.

We ran up to her. Higa extracted the enemy ninja from her foot and made sure he was actually dead while Tenzo and I checked on her. She wasn't breathing, and she had no heartbeat. What's more, her throat was collapsed as if someone has struck her there with a hard object.

Our captain preformed a hurried medical technique to repair her throat and heart while I fed him chakra. Tense minutes passed before she finally started coughing, heaving blood onto our captains mask and on to the ground as he turned her away from him. He continued pumping healing chakra into her body, using super-fine chakra control to fix any damage that might have been done to her.

She swore and pushed him off, laying on her back. "God damnit!"

Yugao coughed up a bit more blood and put her hand to her throat.

"He was fucking fast!" She pointed at the sheath "He hit me in the throat with that, then faster than even Hayate could use a blade and stabbed me. I got him though, right?"

"Yeah, dumbass." Higa laughed. "But you set off your duress. You have to fill out a statement now, loser."

"That's enough." Tenzo helped her up. "Yugao here almost died and Karasu almost blew the mission. Let's clean up this mess and go home.

Afterwards, we retrieved the letter and changed it. It had originally been an acceptance letter. We planted the evidence on the corpse and left the third and final kumo body in the alleyway that we had found Yugao in. Tenzo fired another lightning based technique into the wall, hit the boy in the throat, then tacked him to the wall like Yugao had been. Then he fired another lightning technique straight into the Iwa ninja's face at point blank range, after healing the cut on his neck.

All that remained was clearing up our hotel and leaving. We did so in style, dining at the finest restaurant and even taking a picture with the owner, who had decorated the place with pictures of all sorts of famous customers. We left in our kimonos, purchased a carriage and security and made for the Daimyo's estate. Partway there, we left the kimonos inside the carriage and vanished, without our taxi service being any the wiser. We reached Konoha early this morning, gave our reports, and retired for the night.

My first mission was a success. I had almost screwed up, but that wouldn't happen again. I would not let it. Now we get to wait and see how Iwa reacts to Kiri rejecting their alliance offer. As I write, I can almost hear the furious workings of the other divisions pulling strings and doing their nasty business.

_Wolf, Fire Team Alpha, Fourth Squad_

_Special Assassination and Terrorism Division_

_Special Operations and Warfare, Konoha_

* * *

_May 18th of the Heartbreak_

I had an encounter today.

The day started late, as I had no missions. Taking advantage of the rest, I rose at 0800 and cleaned my body before preparing a light breakfast of two bananas and lightly buttered toast. After dressing in cargo pants and a neutrally colored shirt, I left my apartment.

Over the course of the last week I had been pondering about what to do with the inheritance scroll I had been given. I had promised myself that no matter what, after today my decision will have been made. To that end, I made my way towards the first place I wrote about in this journal; the head of the Yondaime Hokage.

Once I arrived, I sat cross legged and stared at the scroll in front of me for several minutes. At length, I unrolled it, looking again at the markings.

"What am I going to do with you," I asked no one in particular.

I leaned slightly to my right and rested my forehead in my hand. I sighed.

In my youth, this man had shaped me. I did not know it at the time, but as a child, the good things that came to me were byproducts of my father. Training from Jiraiya, beating Neji, rescuing Gaara…all of those things were made possible because this man did what he did to me. When I meet high profile and high level ninjas, their first impression is that I am my father's son.

Then again, my past and my identity are even now a high level secret. Even if I were to accept this name and the associated prestige, that would only make me more recognizable. My only option is to accept this in secret. To keep my Uzumaki name, the name under which all of my accomplishments are noted, but take advantage of what things I may inherit. Money wouldn't be an issue, due to the large sums paid for S-ranked missions. I was more interested in specifically his techniques. The highly coveted sealing arrays the Yondaime was famous for, and of course the legendary Flying Thunder God technique.

This would make me a better killer. It could very well save my life. I would be a fool to pass an opportunity to learn one of the most desired techniques on the face of this planet.

I bit into my thumb and placed my mark in the black space. As my blood filled the void, the sealing array broke and before my lay a small box. Inside were three tri-pronged kunai, several smaller scrolls, the deed to the Namikaze estate, and finally, a picture of them both. My mother was beautiful, red hair billowing slightly, flaring along with my father's Hokage cloak.

Immediately I examined the kunai and the smaller scrolls. They each appeared to be notes from the creation of my father's sealing techniques. I set to work memorizing them. When I was finished, I burned box. I left the deed, the photograph, and the scrolls in the box. I kept only the three kunai.

Understanding the mechanics behind the Flying Thunder God and actually using it, let alone in the heat of battle, was very different. I returned home and changed into training gear before traveling to the Forty-fourth Training Ground to practice. After several hours however, my only progress was a slight vertigo before puking. The technique was viciously complicated.

Time-space techniques require your brain to work in a particular way. That is, the jutsu itself relies upon your understanding and execution of the laws of physics. You're trying to move your body in such a way that it steps from one point to another point. Moving yourself from point A to point C seems impossible. It's like trying to exist in two places at once – and this isn't like the Rasengan. It's more closely related to a summoning technique.

When you summon a creature from their home, you're channeling your chakra through predetermined seals to create an array. Because your chakra has to flow in a specific way for that seal to light, it takes a moment to prime and summon. There is a delay. The Hiraishin is formidable precisely because there is no delay. It's instantaneous. This means that for the jutsu to be effective, it must be done without a sealing array. In essence, you have to memorize a pattern for your chakra to make, and somehow cause your chakra to go into that snapshot with no notice.

Suffice to say that I was having a difficult time. Connecting two points in reality was giving me a headache. Hungry, annoyed and smelling faintly of vomit, I sought out lunch. After showering and changing once more into civilian clothes, I visited Jin. Or I tried to. Since our team had time off, it meant Jin's was working. I had forgotten due to the stress of the day. Instead, I acquired Sakura and we went for some barbecue.

She was civil enough, although our interaction was strained. It might have been because of Lee, or it might have been my presence itself, which seemed to unnerve her. Good. While she wasn't prey, compared to me, she was no predator either. And predators make non-predators nervous.

We had already ordered and were waiting for our food when I noticed something strange in the air. It wasn't quite killer intent, more of a subtle change in atmosphere. I rubbed my eyes as an excuse to look around. I saw a flash of green in the corner before recognizing the danger here. Before I could signal to Sakura that we should leave, Gai noticed me. I sighed as his eyes widened and his face fell. I met his eyes, unashamed. I did what I had to do to get through that hell. My look had a strange effect on him. For a split second, I saw something like fear cross his features.

Then the floor between us cracked, and I raised my arm in a half-arc to redirect his blow. Redirecting a punch from Gai is sort of like pushing an oncoming train off its tracks. The table between Sakura and I exploded as I quickly snapped a small bone in his wrist, hit him in the throat, and tried to slip behind him with my momentum. Gai, however, was not a Taijutsu master without reason. Instead of sliding neatly around his body, I was thrown to the floor with enough force to jar my spine. He had me by the throat, so I tucked my chin and used my knuckles to break his arm. I used the same arm to wrap around his, and ripped his hand off my throat with a show of Tsunade-like strength. I pressed my advantage to his surprise and broke two ribs before he recovered and snapped three of mine with a straight kick.

There was a difference between the way Gai and I struck each other. He was a master of using his movements to put the maximum amount of raw force behind his strikes. This, combined with his extreme speed, made him a powerhouse that could hit you hard enough to send you flying, then intercept you on the way there. It was a favored method of his, but my work was different. I used slightly more finesse, and tuned my strikes to a single point, to break bones or harm muscle. To strike tendons. I wasn't attacking with the aim to cause carnage and send people flying. I struck fast and recoiled quickly, as opposed to striking hard.

It was similar to how the Hyuuga are trained to fight, sans chakra but with more power.

Anyway, his straight kick sent me through the wall of the restaurant, and I quickly replaced myself with a rock, redirecting my momentum straight into the ground instead of causing greater destruction by flying through buildings. Knowing that Gai would attempt to follow me and that he expected me to continue on my original trajectory, I raised my hand just in time to catch him by the tip of his toes. I anchored myself with chakra and used his own momentum to slam him into the ground with bone-shattering force. I felt pangs in my chest and my shoulder was throbbing painfully enough to be a distraction, but I discounted that as I hit Gai in the chin as he attempted to stand.

He slumped over. When he tried to look at me again, I backhanded him as my instructor had me so long ago, and I felt his jaw break as I hit it. The fight had clearly gone out of him. Sometime between jumping after me and slamming him into the ground, his intent to harm me had left and now what remained was just sadness.

It was less of a calculated attack as much as it was a temper tantrum. I reprimanded his childish behavior by grabbing him by his now-broken jaw and lifting his face to mind.

There, in the middle of the street, several civilians and a couple ninja watched as a boy no older than sixteen briefed the everliving shit out of a high-ranking Jounin. I berated him for being a bad example of a Jounin and teaching the new generation that they could act on any angry whim without consequence.

Then I held his face as I backhanded him with my other hand, not enough to hurt him, but enough that he would barely feel it. I insulted and humiliated him repeatedly be treating him like a bad child. I briefly considered bending him over my knee, but my anger subsided before I had reached that point. I allowed his body to slump to the ground as I rose and looked around at the terrified civilians. I was in civilian clothes, but they recognized my hair and my face.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, YOU FUCKS?!" I screamed at them, channeling my instructor. They left in a hurry.

I decided to leave before the military police arrived, but a sobbing whisper stopped me.

"He…Lee…" I looked back at Gai and saw he was sobbing into the ground. "Lee was like…my son…"

I clenched my jaw and vanished. What did they want from me? I did what I had to do! Failure isn't an option during training and it was either make an example of Lee or allow that group of students to go forward in training unprepared for the cruel, disgusting world that was about to hit them like a sledgehammer! If they didn't realize the cost, then they wouldn't fall back into their survival instincts, and they would have never taken training as seriously as they did because of my actions.

I rocketed through the air and alit within the Forest of Death. I punched the ground, killing several plants and a spider due to the shock of my blows. I yelled and beat the giant roots of trees, sending splinters flying everywhere. I stopped using chakra, and let my fists beat themselves bloody and raw, causing damage faster than the Kyuubi could heal. Then I slumped down and cried.

_Wolf, Fire Team Alpha, Fourth Squad_

_Special Assassination and Terrorism Division_

_Special Operations and Warfare, Konoha_

* * *

_August 10th of the Black Night_

I had to do some soul searching. This, coupled with our mission tempo, has kept me from updating this. Also, truthfully, I forgot that I was keeping it. My mind has been elsewhere. I have more or less come to terms with the horror that is our training program. Why would Konoha be so cruel? Necessity.

Why would Konoha effectively cull some of its most promising Shinobi just to elevate the level of training for the rest of us? Borderline insane people like Lee, who could potentially turn the tide of battle by himself? The answer is simple. Necessity.

First, Shinobi conflicts aren't fought like traditional wars. We don't like up in ranks and fight on a middle ground. I mean, of course we do, but that's not where the emphasis on the fight is. Every respectable Shinobi village has a corp of elite Jounin that can hold the front lines while we ninja of the more deadly variety do our jobs.

Immediately the AnBu Special Ops go to work, cutting the enemies economy, halting weapon production, and sowing enough chaos in their ranks to distract them while our overwhelming force destroys them. Lee was a powerhouse. With him on the front lines in a conflict or war, lives would be saved that might otherwise have been lost. However, his death lends realism to our training, and there is not a single thing more important than our job getting done. That fact had to be embedded in us at once.

For perhaps Lee matches with a Jounin of equal skill, and say perhaps that Lee overpowers this Jounin. Yes, a powerful piece has been taken out of the fight, but Lee himself is now injured or heavily exhausted. Even if he takes out five powerful enemy Jounin.

Now imagine a Special Operator, deep in enemy lines, poisoning the food and water supply of the enemy ranks. He has a mission to do. However, his partner is killed. Or he chances on someone's child by freak accident. That Special Operator doesn't know that he's not a special little flower. He'll stop to mourn and try to save his ally. He'll try to get the kid to safety. He'll put the needs of his ethics and morals before the mission.

To us, human life is not sacred. Because that Special Operator played on his fancy of high morals, his mission was not finished. And those five Jounin were replaced by ten fresh Jounin fully fed with full reserves of chakra, and you can bet that the enemy AnBu had no such qualms completing their mission.

Instead, those original five Jounin are left standing. They are formidable, but our force of Jounin handles the heavier workload uncomplaining because it is their purpose. Our Special Operator has watched his friends die in peace, so he expects it during war. He is not phased when his best friend and partner falls to the ground. He quietly kills the child to avoid his presence being announced. The mission is completed, and an entire encampment of enemy ninja are poisoned, exhausting their medics at best, and completely destroying their chakra and will to fight at worst.

Now imagine that our Special Little Flower Operator had been IDed by that child and brought in for torture. Since this little guy hasn't experienced the Hell that is our training, he wasn't ready for it. He bleeds and cries, and tells them our secrets. Secrets that only a Special Operator can tell. Now the enemy knows our methodology. They will know our tactics, where to expect us on the battlefield, and be able to counter our operations.

Instead, our training is not a joke. It is viciously real, and from day one it drives home the fact that in our line of work, lives are lost every day. No one is more important than the whole. Konoha makes relatively small sacrifices in order to avoid greater sacrifices ahead. Sacrifices that might include the lives of families or civilians.

On a different note, I've been on several different operations now, and I have made the Flying Thunder God technique usable outside of combat. I still have a long way to go with regards to using it during combat, but a start is a start. While perhaps not being averted, the impending war has at least been delayed as our enemies scramble. Kumo and Kiri have stopped all communication with Iwa, but not each other.

This is better than nothing, but they needed an extra push. This came as a surprise even to me. A group of high ranked Iwa ninja infiltrated Kumo and attempted to kidnap one of their Jinchuuriki. They were caught, but escaped capture after being tortured for information. Tensions rise even higher as Iwa claims they didn't know of the operation and that their Shinobi operated without authority. Kumo demanded that they pay reparations for damage and loss of life, but Iwa refused.

Then I got my first solo tasking. Once again, my target was Iwa. The nature of the mission was to sow terror and control their movement via fear. This is known as terrorism. There is a misconception that terrorists are called such because they target civilians and use them to hide behind during onslaughts. This is of course, ridiculous. A terrorist is simply someone that uses fear to control others. Fear of retaliation, fear of involvement, etcetera.

Konoha as a nation could be considered a terrorist nation, as we instill the fear of retaliation in other countries to not attack our borders or our allies.

Like all things, terrorism is a tool to be used during conflict, but instead is used as psychological warfare to raise morale of our regular troops and raise support among our civilian populace. Sheep.

Anyway, the specifics are as follows. I was to enter the borders of Iwa alone and seek out a particular factory. We caught intel that they were manufacturing explosives. Not the cute exploding tag types, but massive, landscape-changing bombs. I was sent to dissuade them.

I was told to meet a contact deep within Earth Country, several days journey past Iwa itself. When I did, I noticed immediately that he had Operator training. It was in the way he moved, and the way his eyes flitted about. He analyzed me in less than a second and ushered me into his hidey-hole, which was just that. He had drilled a hole in the ground just barely large enough for the two of us to squeeze in uncomfortably, nose to nose.

His breath smelling like dirt, he explained to me the location of the factory and the burn order on it. I was patted on the head and told good luck.

I would need good luck. The security on this place was insane. They had four fire teams patrolling the boundary line, two rapid response teams inside the restricted area, and external response force, and of course the sealing-type ninja working on the project were all formidable as well. At once I realized that in order to be effective, I would have to simultaneously kill those sealing ninja in addition to breaking the facility.

I mentioned the same to my contact, who nodded and told me that we would be working together to that end. He seemed to approve of my quick assessment.

My contact was about my height with tanned skin and a noticeable beard. He had the poise of an Operator, but none of the discipline. He spoke in regular language with slang and seemed unconcerned about protocols. I was concerned about this man. He was clearly very highly trained, and obviously maintained his training to this day, if his posture were any judge. This was not a spy-nin. I was sure of it.

He showed me his plans to assault through one corner, taking communication from a single fire team out before following the blind sight of a patrol around the building and entering through the ducts. We would egress through the roof and, hopefully, be away before they noticed the fire team.

I countered by suggesting a different method, one that would only work because of who my father was. The contact seemed to appraise me in a new light. I shrugged.

I could not teleport us directly into the facility because even with his recon, he couldn't get all the way inside. Therefore I was just as likely to teleport us into a wall as get us safely in. I pondered if that wouldn't have been a better idea as I shot towards the earth from directly above the facility, having already reached terminal velocity. I aimed and fired a special kunai through our entry point, and as we reached the smoke billowing out of the vent window we were entering through, I used that to mask the flash as I teleported us to the kunai. The man straightened up immediately and surveyed our surroundings. We appeared to be in a store room of some kind. The fumes were vented above this room and out the window directly above us. All around there lay sealing paper upon stacks of strange, pale clay. I took mental snapshots of the area before we slid through the corridor adjoining this room to the main facility.

I was struck with awe. Towering above my by perhaps twenty meters were stacks upon stacks of crated explosive. Each crate was labeled with a target in mind. I read the city name of our Daimyo's true residence, and several smaller cities in Suna, and finally two massive collections that read Konohagakure and Sunagakure. I started my work, planting high-yield explosive tags on the crates, before following my contact deeper into the facility.

We snuck through what must have been a mile of tunnel way going down into the earth. Along the way I laid shaped charges to collapse the place once we left. Finally, we came to a room sealed shut with an impressive array. I recognized two indicators 'Kill' and 'Shock' before warning my partner.

He looked at me apologetically. "I'm under orders to kill these bastards. Sorry Wolf-san."

Without waiting for a reply, he threw me into the array. My body lit up in agony before I slumped to the ground. As my vision darkened, I heard him yelling,

"Help! He fell into the array! Shit! Help us!"

When I came to, my contact was standing over the last body of the sealing ninja. Around the room were scorch marks and craters, indicating a rough fight. He was breathing hard. A screeching, yowling bellow of the alarm shattered the peace as I stumbled forward, trying to remain standing. The contact looked wildly around and only out of pure instinct did I avoid the kunai he had fired at my face.

"You're alive!"

I made a rude gesture at him. "I'm a Jinchuuriki, asshole," I remarked, "I don't die very easily."

He laughed and spun on the spot, extending his arms.

"Well son, we're going to die here, because I'm about to set off those charges. At least your final mission was a successful one."

I shook my head and grabbed him by the throat. As he primed the explosives. "Not good enough."

With a crack like thunder, we slammed into the ground outside next to a prepared kunai, yellow light throwing tree shadows into sharp contrast. We began to run, hearing shouts behind us. I noted with displeasure that this person was noticeably faster than I was.

Then the night turned from black to stark white, and a noise so volatile and loud that I felt my eardrums pop. I felt warm liquid on the side of my face under my ears as I tapped into my reserves and desperately tried to jump again, to the last marker kunai which I had left at home.

I woke in the Konoha hospital. The Hokage relayed that my final jump had failed, but had left us somewhere inside Fire Country's borders. My contact had brought me back and had left me in the hospital. At my request, my team lead brought me up to speed on what was going on in the world after congratulating me.

Kiri had discovered a spy in their ranks. He had been cut one thousand times and left to hang from their Kage Tower. They had cut off all ties with everyone except for Kumo. While I was knocked out, Iwa had a volcano erupt where my op had gone down, changing the landscape forever. I smirked. My work was so good that they were calling it an act of god. Good.

The smile left my face, however, as Danzo entered the room. He spared a glance at Tenzo, who stood protectively in front of me, and at my two teammates. Yugao slid a hand behind her back and leaned against my bed, so that only I could see the kunai she slipped me. Higa on the other hand, stood with the team leader. We were all staring at Danzo.

A stark and terrifying thought occurred to me. Civilians react to Shinobi in a certain way. They step lighter, they are more self-conscious, and they watch the Shinobi carefully. It's a prey reaction. The Regular Forces reacted to us in the same way, because to them, we are the predators. That wasn't what concerned me.

No, what worried me is that now we, some of the deadliest Shinobi in Konoha, were reacting to him in the same way. Like prey.

_Wolf, Fire Team Alpha, Fourth Squad_

_Special Assassination and Terrorism Division_

_Special Operations and Warfare, Konoha_

* * *

**End of Chapter Three**


	7. Journeyman Pt 1

**Chapter Four:**

_Journeyman_

* * *

_September 18th, of the Clear Skies_

Once again, I stopped updating my journal. I've been extremely busy due to our ops tempo increasing and my own upgrade training. I've finished the academics and training schools and finished my End of Course, so now all I have to wait for my paperwork to go through and I'll be of Journeyman skill level. In the AnBu, there are no ranks, only positions.

Our responsibilities are decided through merit instead of what person passed what test. To measure this merit, we have skill levels. Once we prove ourselves to be proficient and meet particular training guidelines and goals, we are awarded an increased 'Skill Level'.

You start as an 'Apprentice'. My initial training was called the Special Operations Apprentice Course, which awarded me the title 'Apprentice' and noted that I had no actual Special Operations experience and was there to mainly learn and assist the Journeymen and the Craftsman on our teams.

After your team has signed off on your skill level and you take tests about the history of the nations and weaponry, you are awarded the skill level of 'Journeyman'. This means you don't require supervision like an Apprentice does. For instance, on my first mission, part of the reason I was with the team that went to the springs was my Apprentice status. While it can be done, it's heavily frowned upon to leave an Apprentice alone.

Once you've made Journeyman, you must have your Team Leader, also known as your Captain, and Squad Leader sign off on your skill and attitude, and you are sent to Leadership School. If you complete that with an acceptable grade, you're awarded the title 'Craftsman'. Craftsman allows you to take control of a team of your own.

A typical squad is made up of three Apprentices, one per fire team, six Journeymen, two per fire team, and three Craftsmen, one per fire team. A thirteenth member is tacked on to the squad to serve as Squad Leader, and may serve with any of the three fire teams. He currently was attached to Bravo team. The Squad Leader is one step above Craftsman, known as 'Artisan'.

Artisan is the last operational skill level. Once you advance beyond Artisan, to 'Master', you are taken out of the field and serve in a supervisory role. The skill level quite literally means that you have gained complete knowledge in skill in this special art of ours.

The fact that we've themed our skill levels after crafting trade titles is a traditional and symbolic thing. We in Special Operations are big on symbolism. We make art. Our art is death. Blood is our paint, and our weapons are our brushes. Our actions make an impression, and like so many subtle artists before us, the anonymity of our art serves to deepen the meaning.

Ah, but you're not interested in my upgrade to Craftsman, you're interested in what the old war hawk Danzo said to us in the hospital. Sorry, I had forgotten what exactly I had last written.

Well, he wished me a speedy recovery and told me that if I needed anything from him to let him know. I told him that I would and my Team Leader made it clear that he was not welcome among us. That was it, really. I've seen the man around the Hokage tower a couple times, but nothing outstanding had happened.

Oh, right. Our fire team has shuffled around a bit. At the same time I upgraded to Journeyman, Higa was force-upgraded and given a team leader position due to a death in Charlie team. Normally this would be a problem, but since I am upgrading early, it will not be. I'm to replace Higa entirely, and we'll take on another Apprentice.

Currently, our fire team is Tenzo as team lead, Yugao, myself, and a new member that I have not yet met. He or she is going to make team tonight. We'll meet the new teammate and start our first mission. As the newest Journeyman, I'll be the one doing the majority of the on-the-job supervision, as Yugao had done for me.

My mission record is still perfect. The fact that I've taken to this career field like a fish to water was contributory, but the main factor is Tenzo and his exceptional leadership abilities. I can trust Tenzo. And there are not many people I trust.

There are continuing signs of escalation between the nations. The spy that Kiri hung from their tower mysteriously disappeared without their consent, causing them to heighten security due to a body vanishing right under their noses.

The intel we have been getting from SOTD, the Special Operations and Tactics Division, has made us nearly certain that Kumo and Kiri are allied in the upcoming engagement. Iwa and Kumo have been posturing against each other, both of them running combat exercises in neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, the biggest threat was determined to be Kumo. For this reason, Konoha has sent envoys to the Tsuchikage, with alliance treaties. An alliance between Iwa and Suna would tip the scales dramatically in our favor.

More than likely, that's what the operation tomorrow is about. I should sleep, we have an early start.

_Wolf, Fire Team Alpha, Fourth Squad_

_Special Assassination and Terrorism Division_

_Special Operations and Warfare, Konoha_

* * *

_March 15th, of the Pending Storm_

The Op went bad.

First, we met up and got our briefing. We were assigned a high value target deep in the Land of Earth. Actually, the target was within Iwagakure. We were to assassinate the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. While we did this, we were to leave a note from Kumo and then vanish.

The reason was simple. Iwagakure has a deep set hatred for Konoha. Unless they believed it meant their destruction, they most likely would not ally themselves with us. So we were going to weaken Iwagakure just enough so they believed that without our help, Kumo would destroy them. So while Kurotsuchi dies, Konoha will send SSSD (Special Security and Sentry Division) Shinobi to reestablish security on the borders of Earth Country.

Our new team member amused me greatly. It was Ino. She didn't recognize me, as she saw only my Wolf mask, but I'm sure she suspected. After all, there are few secrets when something 'cool' happens. Like the mask Wolf being pulled out of retirement.

Anyway, we set out for the op with our newbie in tow, and as I previously stated, I taught her about our squad-exclusive hand signs and the different method and tactics we used.

It took us several days to make it into Earth Country, and several more until we made it to our goal: The Great Ninja Village of Iwagakure. We cased the gates and defense for the better part of a week before we were able to slip in with a carriage of iron ore. It was a simple matter, as their gate guards were more interested in playing their game of dice then actually securing the gate.

I smirked beneath my mask as I noted that their inattentiveness would mean the death of Kurotsuchi. Not, of course, that we wouldn't have been able to get in otherwise. This just made it exceedingly simple.

After making in to the village, we made nice as higher-class tea shop owners looking to expand our business. We checked out real estate and made nice with all the neighbors, asking them about their tea habits and what routes they usually take, so we could 'pick the best location for our new establishment'. After two days of this façade, we caught sight of our target.

We found that she regularly enjoyed shabu-shabu, a type of food where you boil broth and swish thinly cut slices of meat through it to cook them while the broth boils. Afterwards, you dip the now cooked meat in sesame or soy sauce and eat with rice. It's actually quite interesting.

Kurotsuchi visits this place every second day, regardless of what day of the week it is. She always comes alone. This made our job incredibly simple. Slip a poison into her food. Ambush her as she leaves. Very easy. Too easy.

I voiced me concern to Tenzo, who accepted it, but decided that we would proceed nonetheless.

Tenzo decided that it I would be the one to spearhead this op, and thus he and Yugao faded into the background to plan escape routes and create a distraction. While he was scouting the village and doing whatever black magic he was doing, I made sure to be seen around public, looking more and more harried as time progressed.

I took to the bar, looking depressed and sad and complaining loudly how our company had gone under new management that abandoned us. While I was doing this, Ino seduced a server at the restaurant that Kurotsuchi favored. While she was fucking him, he mysteriously had a heart attack. Because he was a civilian, there was a limited investigation. After all, there's really no way to trace someone invading your mind and causing your brain to send a signal to your heart. At least no way for a civilian to check. Ino became 'depressed' and started frequenting the bar I drank at, and we became fast friends. We swilled together like teenagers while I applied for the new position at the shabu-shabu place.

I started work as a legitimate hire and even took home a small sum every week. Ino and I spent the money on alcohol. She started 'visiting' me at the restaurant, sitting for hours as I went through my shift. She always ordered food so my manager didn't care. After all, he worried about my depression and it was good to see me amongst friends.

Kurotsuchi started to recognize me and remembered my name. She made the connection between Ino and I. It was then that we made our move.

It wasn't a very busy day, but Kurotsuchi always sat facing the door, as ninjas do. In order to place her in a private booth (which she disliked), I had Ino, Yugao, and also Tenzo come into the restaurant and order food for different tables. This meant that the only place to sit was private. Not wanting to kick someone out just to make herself happy, Kurotsuchi chose to sit in our private booth. I made sure beforehand to wash her bowl in heavily poisoned water. The compound was odorless and tasteless, but not deadly. Instead it would cause near-instant paralysis, at which point we would silently make our kill.

She ordered and I provided all of the vegetables to flavor her broth and the meat for her to cook.

"So are you and that nice blonde girl dating yet?" She asked, looking devious.

"Aaah-haa, no, Lani-chan and I are just friends." I closed my eyes and scratched the back of my head. "It's just…yeah…"

"Aw, you're embarrassed, that's sweet." She eyed my body. "You know, I've been watching you, and I'll bet you have a killer body under that apron, don't you?"

I let my eyes get really wide and I stuttered before leaving the room hurriedly. I smirked to myself. Killer body. How little she knew. I tapped my thigh twice as I picked up another order, and saw Ino look around obviously before hurrying to Kurotsuchi's booth. I kept myself busy for a few minutes, then heard the clap from behind the sliding doors into the private booth.

I entered and looked surprised and worried about Ino's presence, and as I slid the door behind me, Kurotsuchi let out a breath.

"Alright you two, listen up." She pointed at Ino. "You're in love with him."

Ino gasped and glanced at me, while I carefully averted my eyes. Then the target pointed at me. "You're head over heels for her."

I made noises with my mouth and made to leave.

"You're not going anywhere yet."

She ushered me to sit while she swished her pork through the poisoned broth.

"I've been sitting here watching you both be too cowardly to ask the other out, and it's been driving me crazy."

She dipped the now-cooked pork in her broth.

"I mean, you've both got killer bodies and sexy faces," She took a bite. "And you both move very grace…graceful…gracefully…"

Her body started to seize up. She reached for her kunai pouch but the poison took full effect before she managed it. Her eyes darted around, looking at us.

"If you'll do the honors." I turned my back to them and slid open the door to leave. Immediately, several things happened at once.

The world slowed as adrenaline entered my system. Around the room were at least twenty Iwa AnBu agents, each with weapons drawn. Yugao was on the floor, pinned down by a tanto. Tenzo was being held by his throat, cut-wire looped around it several times. He was screaming, but I heard nothing.

While I noticed all this, something slammed down onto the table behind me, and searing pain splashed onto my back. I heard a short gasp of pain and then a thump. I whirled, hand out and chakra sharpening into a blade, but my target grabbed my forearm and engaged me in hand-to-hand. I was a shade better, but she was joined by two of her ANBU. I flashed one foot out and caught someone's wrist as I was forced into the circle of special ops Shinobi.

I met someone's fist straight on with my own and let my bone density crack his knuckles, then dropped to the floor to escape an axe kick. I broke someone's femur with a stomp before being hit in the kidney twice. I coughed blood into another persons' face before a hand clapped to my ear, sending me to the ground and giving me a high pitched ringing noise in my ear.

I kicked a knee as someone stomped on my throat. I caught an extended hand and crushed three fingers as the toe of a boot caught my temple. The world dimmed and warped. I saw Tenzo's slightly purple face, and I saw Yugao lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood. Tenzo's hands were limp. Ino was slumped over the table, a kunai impaling her hand.

Wildly, as the world went even darker, I watched Kurotsuchi smash one of her own ANBU's masks and break another's neck before they even moved. She slit the throat of a third while they rushed to restrain her, but she sunk in an impressive display of athleticism and broke two of their ankles before rolling forward and snapping taut, shoving her fingers into someone's throat.

I felt my throat pop back into place as the Kyuubi's chakra took effect. Kurotsuchi staggered as she regained control of her body from Ino. Ino, now back in her own body across the room, yanked the kunai out of her hand and embedded it in the floor next to my face. Unfortunately, someone stepped on my chest and rocks sprang from the wooden floor to restrain me. Weak as I was, I couldn't break the chakra-laced stone. Bands formed around my wrists, ankles, knees, throat and head. I strained against them as an ANBU grabbed Ino by the hair and threw her to her knees near Tenzo, who had passed out.

An ANBU stomped on Yugao's head, and I heard a sickening crunch as wetness splashed my hand. They backhanded Ino, breaking several teeth out and probably their own hand, judging by the cursing. They slit Tenzo's throat, then moved to kill me.

"No. He led the op, he's most likely the team leader. We'll interrogate him." She glanced at Ino. "Kill the girl."

At her word, I saw Ino get chopped in the throat with the blade of one hand, before a tanto was raised.

White-hot fury seared through me, and I felt my skin go numb with the Kyuubi's influence. The enemy lit with red and Ino in a bluish color as the Kyuubi renegotiated my vision and took control of my motor functions. I felt something give way on my wrists and my hands were free. I extended a limb of chakra and _melted_ the tanto in the man's grip, raining molten steel down upon his body. He screamed.

I sent spikes of chakra to every blip of red I could see, killing them all instantly. I felt the Kyuubi briefly consider Ino, but I wrapped her in my own chakra and did something that I still cannot replicate. I wrapped her in a bubble of my chakra and translated that bubble to my waiting kunai far out of the city's walls. While she was in that bubble, I knew her entire skeletal structure. I knew her veins, her chakra coils. I knew things about her that even she didn't know. I knew that she had a small human growing within her. Now joined only by the cooling bodies of the enemy ANBU, the corpses of my team and Kurotsuchi's body, I didn't have to worry about casualties.

You're probably thinking 'what about the civilians'. Well in this instant, I was not only in the middle of an enemy village, under the influence of demonic rage, I had also watched my team die in front of me. They were my closest friends. My brothers. I didn't give a _shit_ about someone's grandmother baking cookies three blocks down. I knew that I was going to die. I just wanted to do as much damage as I possibly could in the interim.

My chakra exploded out from me, vaporizing the bodies and the buildings around me. I felt my skin burn and peel off of my body, pain radiating through me. It wasn't the sort of pain you're used to, though. Have you ever had a med-nin numb a piece of flesh before having a biopsy taken? You can't feel the pain but you can feel the pressure and it's painful in a different sort of way. That's how I felt my skin peel off. Detached, stress-pain.

Then I felt my eyeballs pop and my memory ended.

I woke to a dark passageway, lit by only candles, all of which were set in between my toes. That is what woke me. The pain from wax falling onto my toes.

"Ah, the boy joins us." I raised my head to see an emaciated man wearing thick glasses looking at me. He wore a white coat with a white face mask not unlike Kakashi's. On each finger was a wicked looking needle. They connected to several vials of different colored liquids on the man's arms, and it appeared that each finger was attached to a different substance. "You'll be pleased to know that you're surprisingly resistant to our poisons."

I watched him noncommittally. I felt a stone sink low in my stomach as I realized where I was. Immediately I started building walls and falling within myself.

"Oh no you don't!" The skinny man slapped me hard, slumping me over. I was already too far gone, however. "Damnit."

I noticed in an offhand sort of way that he sighed. "All you special operators are the same. Luckily…"

He pressed a finger into the large vein in my right arm. "I have my ways to bring you back."

I felt my mind warp and twist, and suddenly my carefully constructed castle was gone. I tried to sink lower, back into my home, but I could not. I tried to fade into my mind, into the comforting white clean walls of my head, but to no avail. I knew then that I would have to endure this torture without my mental blocks. My blood went cold as he raised the knife.

But instead of plunging it into my flesh, he sank it into a bottle of jelly. He appeared, strangely, to be making a sandwich. He chuckled at my reaction.

"Now now, there's time enough for the unpleasantness later." He smiled as he started spreading jelly onto the other slice of bread. "You should know that the Tsuchikage gave me free reign to do whatever I liked with you. Attempting to kill someone's granddaughter will sometimes invoke that reaction."

I used my tongue to check for my false tooth in order to kill myself – an easier solution than letting them torture me and then kill me, but found it missing. I scowled.

"Anyway, perhaps we can avoid the really _disfiguring_ treatments with just a little information." He bent down close to my ear. "What village are you from?"

"Fuck you."

He sighed, and jabbed a needle into my eye socket. I screamed as I felt the foreign substance enter my brain, but the floor started boiling, distracting me. The walls melted and Sakura was sucking off what appeared to be one of my instructors. He held her head to his crotch as she chocked on his dick, but the flashing lights in his eyes gave birth to a pack of wolves which coiled around me. I growled low in my throat. They growled back.

Ants burst through my skin, biting me as they crawled over my flesh. I howled in agony, and my pack of wolves howled in chorus. The ants were then fire, and I smelled my skin cooking and heard my flesh sizzle.

When the world settled and the skinny man came back into focus, the wolves remained. I waited.

"Now then." He tapped my forehead with a kunai, each tap slightly breaking the skin. "Where are you from?"

"I came from…" He leaned in closer as I breathed heavily. "Your sister's house."

He casually slid his knife into the corner of my eye socket, and I felt the tip of the blade working behind my eyeball before the nerve was severed and he popped it out. I felt a phantom connection as my chakra drained from the eye, as he turned it to look at me. My chakra tried to continue sending me data from the detached organ, despite the actual nerve being disconnected. What his meant was that for a couple seconds, I stared straight at my own bloody disheveled body.

My throat was raw from screaming. He lazily traced a line into my flesh from my exposed eye socket down my face, past my throat to my right nipple, where he ground the blade into my skin. I made an urgent scream-grunt as he cut my nipple free. Blood flowed freely from both my eye and my chest. He didn't seem to care whether I bled to death or not.

I tried to force the blood out of my body faster, knowing full well that with death came a relief from this pain. He stabbed me in the balls and I passed out.

I woke again by ice water being thrown in my face. I had been healed (save for my eye), but now they dunked my spluttering face into a pool of ice cold water. I screamed and flailed, and just when I was about to pass out, they pulled me out again to let me get a few water-laced breaths before shoving me back in. This repeated for some time before I was thrown on my back. I heard some noise and a searing pain bit through the numbness from the ice water on my back. I lurched and watched a sizable rat run away from my body. Someone kicked me in the face as they left, breaking my nose.

As I regained my senses, I noticed there was a small blue device sunk into my chest, near my heart. It was glowing blue. I knew what this was. A chakra suppressor.

They left me with the rats.

I thought about a lot of things. I thought about home. I thought about Sakura. I thought about Jiraiya. About how life might have been different had I taken him up on his offer to train as a sage. I thought about training. I thought about Ino. I wondered about her pregnancy. I thought about Ayame. I thought about freedom. About running.

That's probably the worst part about captivity. In training, we're told to develop an exercise plan. It distracts you and builds you up to be in better shape once you eventually make your escape. Here of course I am not allowed to work out in any way. I could almost feel my body wasting away. I wasn't given enough to eat. This I was used to, but on top of everything else it took a toll.

A beard had been growing on my face. I had taken to talking to the rats. They ignored me, and seemed content to chew on my in my sleep. My wolves, however, they lay in piles in the corner or paced through walls. They romped through my cell and nipped at rats, which seemed oblivious to their presence.

After days, or weeks, or hours, or maybe years, the skinny man in the white coat returned. He injected me with a yellow liquid that I recognized, then strapped me to a gurney. He spoke softly to me, asked me about home, and told me not to worry, that this would all be over soon.

I strained against my straps to see what he was doing. He had a small hammer, several senbon needles, and a small glass container containing a single white mouse.

"You know, young ninja," My captor said, "That you can end this day by telling us just exactly where you come from."

"Fuck you!"

"At least tell us your name. Just that much, and I can make the day so much easier. I can take the mouse back. Oh, mister Whiskers here doesn't want to hurt you, do you, Mr. Whiskers?"

"Suck my dick you bony faggot!" I used harsh language to disguise my fear.

"Oh, have it your way then."

He positioned a senbon underneath by right index fingernail. "Are you quite sure you won't reconsider?"

"Fuck yo- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GHH!" He had tapped the needle into the bed of my nail with his hammer. It hurt like a bitch. It wasn't quite like being flayed however, and that memory dulled the pain a bit.

"What harm would telling us your name bring?" He positioned the second senbon. "Just your code-name will suffice."

"Suck my- NNNGAAH"

The man in the white coat sank the second needle into my nail bed. I grunted between my teeth.

This continued for at least an hour. He exhausted his use of senbon needles, hammering two into each nail bed, including my toes. Then I learned what the mouse was for.

"Mr. Whiskers is a good mouse." He raised a scalpel. "And I am a good medic."

He made an incision about a hand length long on my stomach. He reached into the wound and I felt searing pain as he tickled my spine. He withdrew his hand and immediately wove a concentrated beam of green chakra over the cut, causing it to heal very quickly.

"If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'm going to put Mr. Whiskers inside of you. And then I'm going to let him eat his was out."

He waited. I bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood and waited. He sighed. "Oh, very well."

The man reached into the mouse cage and withdrew the white rodent. He juggled the thing between his hands, cooing like a demented parent before holding the mouse aloft and raising a scalpel. It descended. As it touched my stomach, there was a knock at the door.

"Oh bother who could it be at this hour?" He carefully set down the scalpel and put Mr. Whiskers back into his cage. "I'll be right back."

I heard voices in the adjoining room. I only heard snippets of what they said, but that was enough.

"Another…in the marke-…"

"Are you…doesn't seem…ssary."

"…orde…kage…do it."

"Oh ve…start…night."

"Great. I'll…him in…room one twe…"

It would seem that another prisoner arrived. After a few more seconds of meaningless conversation, the interrogator returned to my room. He came into my field of vision. "Ah, now where were we…

"Oh yes, Mr. Whiskers."

Instead of flourishing this time, he simply made the cut and shoved the mouse into my stomach. I felt the rodent inside of me, frantically turning to try to escape out. The man in white had already sealed my wound, however, so the mouse had nowhere to go. It panicked and started clawing and biting amid my organs. I felt it _inside_ me. I screamed and clawed at the arm rests. I think I passed out, because the next thing I remember was an incredibly bright light.

For a long time I was subjected to every sick, demented imagining that the man in white could conjure up. I had my toes smashed, I was flayed, and I had boiling water dribbled lovingly on my balls.

I don't remember a lot of it. Whether it is memory blocks, or simply because I was in their facility for so long, I don't know. But I do not miss the memories.

One day I woke to the sun.

My vision swam and pulsed as I tried to make sense of the wall of pure light assaulting my vision. Ever so slowly, my remaining eye adjusted, and I realized I was outside. I was in the middle of the village, near the Kage Tower. Before me stood a crowd.

"This is the man who tried to kill our beloved Kurotsuchi."

The crowd roared its anger at me, and in return I glared at them.

"He will remain here in your good company for the duration of three days. If at the end of those three days he is not recognized or he doesn't share his name and home village, he will be executed."

They screamed their approval. I looked each of them in the eyes. Rage. Grief. There was a little girl with teal hair. I growled at her. My wolves howled around me. Everyone ignored them.

The chains binding my hands together rose, forcing my arms into the air. I was raised by the wrists three inches off the ground and left there hanging. The crowd took turns spitting on my body, throwing stones or rotten fruit. I idly amused myself by recalling much of my childhood, which had been somewhat similar.

As the day wore on, I felt my skin tighten under the sun, and start to burn. The heat was incredible. Every so often someone passing would start throwing stones at me, until they grew bored. I was covered in cuts, welts, and bruises. Whatever sort of suppressor they had in my chest was absorbing the Kyuubi chakra, keeping it from healing me. I was given a thin broth at sundown, and then left until morning.

I drowsed for hours, feeling bugs land on my naked body. I felt a stinging in my crotch and noted that I must have been bitten by a fly. It hurt like a mother fucker. And it itched. Without any warning whatsoever, I suddenly was dropped to the ground, where I groaned slash screamed slash whined at the intense pain from my shoulders. I pulled my arms into my chest, trying to ignore the searing pain. I looked up to see the innocent looking teal-haired girl from the crowd. She had a cup of water.

She came close and tipped it into my lips. I drank it greedily and glared at her.

"W-what's your name?"

I looked down and scowled. They sent a child. How amusing.

"Mister, you don't want to die."

She came a little closer. Within arms distance now.

"Please…I know what it's like to be alone…"

The little girl took one more step, holding a second cup of water.

"Here, I have more wat-"

I grabbed her, causing the water to spill. I brought her innocent eyes within inches of mine and growled at her, throat raw from screaming, tongue swollen from biting it,

"I will kill everyone you love!" I squeezed her hard enough for my fingers to send pangs of agony up my arms and across my chest. "AND THEN I WILL BURN THIS VILLAGE TO THE GROUND!"

I shoved her away and started laughing. I laughed as the got up and ran. I laughed as their guards hoisted me back into the air. I laughed as the sun rose.

I chuckled at the first stones thrown at me. I guffawed at the women queuing to hit my testicles with a small wooden paddle. I giggled at the men who punched me hard enough to crack my jaw. I continued laughing until the sun went down. I kept my guards company with my laughter. My wolves paced restlessly around me. Ever present.

I laughed when the first guard didn't return from his bathroom break. I laughed when his partner went looking for him. I laughed at the 'urk!' that came from the shadows beyond my chains.

My jovial sounds greeted the same bearded man that I had met during the terrorism operation so long ago. I continued laughing for a long time. Long after he cut me down and vanished with me into the night.


	8. Journeyman Pt 2

_March 17th, of the Red Dawn_

"He hasn't done anything except write in that journal."

"It just takes time. Hokage-sama said that there isn't anything wrong with him, physically."

"Yeah but anyone who comes back from a training trip laughing like he does with wounds like his is definitely doing something fishy. I'm scared of him."

They should be scared of me. I have not been able to stop my laughter. I'm not entirely sure why. When they brought me home, I woke up laughing. It just seems so appropriate. My body no longer hurts. I mean, if I don't think about my body, it hurts. I have to remember that I'm healed and that the wounds that they so carefully kept open are no longer there. After months of having something in your flesh, you just assume it's a part of you. I've only written in this journal that which I remember. The whole experience is mostly a blur. I know that I was there long enough to go crazy. That's what they call me, anyway.

Crazy.

Then the real story came to light. Rumors surfaced. My arrival was announced yesterday. Ino was the first to come see me. She brought flowers. I laughed at her. I laughed so hard that I started coughing blood onto my sheets. I found this idea amusing. Ino wasn't pregnant anymore. That thought made me chuckle.

Sakura visited, but seemed off-put by my laughter. She was with Kakashi as well. All of my visitors ignored my wolves. After that, the hospital staff took to partially paralyzing me, so I couldn't laugh at my friends. This, of course, made everyone so much funnier. You know how you're not supposed to laugh at something and because of that fact it became almost impossible not to laugh. That's what it was like.

They did physical therapy with me, teaching me to walk again, and to stand on my own. I laughed during the whole experience. It was so much _fun_. Life was so much _better_ with laughter. I speculated on the thought that being in captivity had been a positive change in my demeanor. I was so much more jolly now. That makes me laugh.

Ha-ha.

Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Ha-ha.

I think at this point it's just too funny to continue.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_March 19th of the Red Dawn_

My sanity comes and goes. As you saw, I was able to make that first entry on the 15th, but then when I attempted to pen my thoughts a second time…well. If I don't think about it, I don't do it.

I had a visit from Danzo. The man seems to like visiting me in the hospital. He left his 'card' with me. When I inspected it more closely, it was just a slip of paper dipped in black ink. A black piece of paper. What did that mean? Certainly an ominous message. Maybe I shouldn't have laughed at him.

My muscles are learning well. The Kyuubi has managed to heal most of the superfluous damage, but it appears that I'll forever be without an eye. Despite the fox's ancient nature, it's incapable of healing such a complex organ. I would need a donor. Of course in this village my real name is dirt and my code-name means nothing.

Whatever.

_Wolf_

* * *

_July 18th, of the Red Dawn_

I've been taken off the AnBu roster. I had expected that. What I did not expect was to be placed with my old teammates. Sasuke had returned. I didn't know the specifics, but I knew that he was back. And he had changed. I think they threw us together for morale reasons. They wanted to tie our loyalties down and to bring up fond memories of my Genin days. I didn't care about my Genin days.

I just wanted to kill something.

Kakashi was our team leader, of course. He started it off with a spar. He verses Sakura, while Sasuke and I fought. Sasuke had once told me that elite level Shinobi could tell everything about each other in the first exchange of blows. I felt as if that was true. I translated that to breaking his face with my first punch, shattering four ribs with my second, and cracking his neck on my third strike, a horizontal chop.

I would have continued, but for some reason Kakashi stopped our spar and sent me home. I spent the rest of the day tending to my bonsai trees, a habit that I had picked up in the hospital. It helped, then, to keep me from laughing. Now it just distracted me. My wolves pranced about the living room as I meticulously cut leaves from the miniature tree. It was coming along nicely when a knock sounded at my door.

It was Ino, and her baby. I let them in and began to make tea. She asked how my first day went. I told her that it had gone well but that I seemed to tick off Kakashi when I so soundly beat Sasuke. Ino laughed and even her baby gurgled happily. I eyed it with distrust.

I found out that Ino was also off the roster, due to her pregnancy, and new motherhood. In fact, the presence of a child made her ineligible for AnBu status. It would forever be an excellent bullet in her service history, but no more breakneck missions to the center of Iwa for her.

After she left, the Hokage visited. She seemed perturbed by my treatment of Sasuke during our spar. I have no idea how to talk to these people. We're supposed to test each other, right? Well, I am only now reaching my old skill level, and whether Sasuke underestimated me or whether he's just that inept, I tested him and found him wanting. It's not as if I killed him, I just broke a couple bones and maybe gave him a scar. Even if his nose needed reconstructive surgery, it's a simple procedure for someone like Tsunade. I just didn't understand these people.

Did they think an enemy would pull punches? Hell fucking no. They'd just as soon kill you as look at you.

Whatever.

The next day, I met with Team 7 again. I apologized to Sasuke at the Lord Hokage's behest and instead of sparring, we had a bell-test instead. Since we all knew it was a team work exercise, it was more a judge of raw skill. Kakashi wasn't stupid, however, and he seemed to know that we were all very powerful ninja. Or at least that I was. So as backup, he brought Asuma and Gai. The latter was not dressed as I am used to him. He was dressed in black, and on his head was a shaggy mess that reached his mid back. The jumpsuit was similar, but as I wrote previously, it was black. He looked to be in mourning.

We squared off, and as he said go, we all vanished. Or at least I vanished. Sasuke did a fairly good job at hiding, but Sakura wasn't using a Genjutsu to cover herself or ANYTHING. It's like she didn't feel Asuma's chakra in the wind, trying to find us. From my vantage point, I watched Asuma tap a message to Gai, who promptly disappeared, leaving behind an afterimage. I tensed and launched my body full-force straight at Sakura, the only one idiotic enough to be in the open. Gai reached her before I did, and engaged her in hand-to-hand. He dodged three punches but the fourth hit home as he clocked her into the tree. Her face impacted with a crunch, but I was almost completely unprepared for him to go flying by me with the force of her own punch. I landed and spared her a single startled glance before taking off after Gai.

I was in no mood for this stupid tactical exercise. He caught me head on and tried to overpower me. I broke all ten of his fingers and head-butted him in the nose. Bleeding, he kicked me, cracking at least two ribs and sending me careening into Asuma, who flashed out with his wind-coated trench knives. I bent like a reed and let the past harmlessly above me, as I went to work with a senbon below his rib cage, nicking his spine and paralyzing him. Not permanently, probably, just while the senbon was present. A skilled medic nin could remove it with reasonable chance of success without lifetime paralysis. I ghosted above a fireball summoned by Kakashi and sent a Chidori through the oncoming fist of Gai, shredding his arm to the shoulder. I continued on my backswing and lit his throat with my heel. He went down and stayed down.

I suppose the Chidori calls for a bit of explaining. I never detailed the moves Kakashi taught me once I took his mask, but his Chidori was a notable part of the Wolf character, and therefore was a necessary piece for me to learn.

Anyway, my predecessor engaged me head-on. I matched him blow for blow. His Sharingan flaring, he bore down on me with the speed and ferocity only an AnBu could attain. I broke his wrist; he broke my cracked ribs. I snapped a forearm, he broke my wrists. I cracked his cheekbone, he dislocated my shoulder.

It got to a point that we were both using lightning-based techniques to speed our reaction time. I idly speculated on where my teammates where. Then I decided that it didn't matter. Kakashi sacrificed a vicious kick to his femur, breaking it, in order to separate us. This gave him a chance to run a medical technique over his more dangerous injuries, and gave the Kyuubi a chance to fix my own. I was finished first, but for the first time in MONTHS I was having fun. I allowed Kakashi to finish.

As he did, I noticed we had an audience. The Hokage, the full council, and Danzo among them. Ino was there with her daughter. Kurenai was tending to Asuma while Tsunade herself was working on Gai. It felt good to know that my work was appreciated.

I felt a shift in the air and paid for my inattention with a broken jaw. I ducked under his next blow and tore into his stomach with a palmed kunai. He again distanced himself from me and again I allowed him to heal his injury. I watched him rock on to the balls of his feet and sink into perfect balance. It was only slightly flawed. Call it an error due to lack of practice. I, however, practiced every day in the hope that I'd be re-tasked. I also sank.

We engaged in close combat, blades flashing. At our level, it's almost impossible to escape without some wounds, so again we took turns more or less. At every strike, we leave ourselves open just a tiny bit, but that's enough for ninja on our level.

Kakashi was not my ideal opponent, but he was deadly in the same was I was. The difference between Kakashi and a sage like Jiraiya isn't raw power. It's specialization. Jiraiya is very fast and insanely strong, due to massive chakra levels and ridiculous training. Training in special arts. Kakashi is a master of the very basic fundamentals of being a Shinobi. Taking advantage of openings. Deceit. He is deadly in a subtle sort of way, while Jiraiya can crush buildings or even towns.

And Jiraiya would never hope to be able to be able to do blade work on our level.

And while I was thinking about all of this, it happened. A subtle shift in the battle space. I had the upper hand. Due to my inner demon, so to speak, I have almost limitless stamina. Kakashi had gone soft after years of being a Jounin, which is admittedly a difficult task, but nowhere near the requirements of AnBu. It started with a sloppy jab that I took to be a feint. Then he slightly overextended a punch. Not by much. Maybe three millimeters. But it was enough. I slammed a knee into his hip, breaking the same and causing him to whirl. I caught the extended backhand at the expense of a broken wrist, and in turn broke his arm in three places. His knee caught my ribs, and I broke his femur again, along with cracking his kneecap. He crunched my toes, but I grabbed him by the hair and exposed his throat. I placed my kunai against the skin.

And suddenly I was in the tree line, watching both my clone and Kakashi's die to one another. After a breath to assimilate the memories of our respective clones, we re-engaged.

Kakashi's fighting style was almost identical to my own. He had created the personality of Wolf, and I had lived it for months. I was more Kakashi than Kakashi was, at this moment. While he was training a Genin team and holding low class missions in order to raise us, he didn't have the time to keep himself in the razor sharp skill that I enjoyed. My entire purpose up to this point was to re-accomplish my previous skill. It's amazing what you can accomplish with the proper focus.

We wove around each other, trading blow for blow, slightly missing each other my mere millimeters. We both knew how this would end. The fight was a formality at this point. Our skills were identical. Except I never tired.

I took a strike to my throat due to the blind spot of my lost eye and I cursed my idiocy. I dove backwards to gain distance, but he quickly closed.

I ducked, allowing the knife-edge of his hand to brush through my hair, and shot my hand out to narrowly miss his hip. I caught his knee in my palm and forced it to the side to open a strike zone for my own, only to have my leg kicked out and causing me to overstep. I leaned far forward and kissed the ground as I shot my back leg up and over my head to tap him in the forehead protector. This send him sprawling backwards, and gave me time to negotiate my balance. I adopted a more aggressive posture and advanced, catching his bone-breaking blows instead of dodging them. I caught both fists and brought my knee to his solar plexus, only to blow splinters as he substituted with a log.

Fundamentals.

I kicked the log at a precise fracture point to splinter it into deadly projectiles that I snatched from the air and sent spinning towards Kakashi, who was standing across the field singing. He performed a side-aerial, signing all the while. With his legs pointed at the sky and his hair nearly brushing the earth, an elemental dragon burst from his mouth, trailing fire. Mere moments later, another of earth erupted behind it. As I turned and prepared to counter the techniques, I saw a shimmer of compressed air and heard the gurgle of a water technique.

The air, being faster than water, reached the dragons first. The earth dragon was unaffected, but it superheated and sped the fire dragon up, engorging it and leaving me with less than a second to retaliate. I launched myself like an arrow through the fire, blowing a spear of wind chakra through my fingertips, which were extended to a point beyond my head to bisect the flame.

The flame ended but simultaneously I felt like I was hit with the hammer of god as I impacted an incredibly dense mud construct. In the wake of his flashy fire technique, the water soaked and provided further density to his earth dragon. I had dived headlong into it, and now lay on my back, dazed.

By pure instinct I rolled hard and avoided an axe kick. I reversed my roll immediately and took out his leg, managing to tag him in the artery held therein. He fell as I rose.

He twisted and shot two shuriken and his foot at me. I slapped both stars out of the air and broke his ankle with my instep.

I allowed him to stand on his good leg. I rose from my deep combat stance to a less ready position. I realized with amusement that I was in the interview stance.

Kakashi was heaving. Elemental techniques are not easy. Particularly when you use them in quick succession in conjunction with a Sharingan. That eye, at this point, was deactivated. Sweat beaded his brow, and one arm was held awkwardly.

For my part, my wounds hissed, healing much more quickly than was normal. Sasuke and Sakura landed on either side of me, staring not at Kakashi but instead at me. Sensing that I did a little too well, I glanced around the clearing before vanishing. Ino seemed impressed, the Hokage seemed worried, Danzo seemed pleased and the council seemed nonplussed.

I spent the next few hours meditating in my room, allowing my more severe injuries to heal. I would no doubt be interrogated. At the very least I needed to be debriefed. I couldn't even imagine the strings that the Hokage must have pulled to delay it for so long. It would be, I guess, on a random day. Most likely I would simply wake up in their cute little chair with a light in my face.

I resolved to cripple whomever woke me. I stood and stretched, tired after being immobile for so long. I decided to take a walk to Ichiraku's, for old time's sake.

The air was slightly warm on my skin, and at this point no one would dare question me for breaking regs, so I dressed in black sweats, black sandals, and a black wife beater shirt. My AnBu tattoo stood in dark contrast to my pale skin, as did the sealing circle for this journal. I wore a bracelet of parachord, which is just a braided bit of high-tensile string in case of emergencies. In a pinch, I could use it to strangle an enemy, or to make a shelter. In brash attitude, I purposely left all my weapons in my home. This was stupid, but I was young and I wanted to make an impression. I could kill nearly anyone in this village with my bare hands, after all.

My braided hair reached the bottom of my shoulder blades. I hadn't seen the point in cutting it during rehabilitation. It also grew faster than normal. Probably had to do with my food intake. Over my missing eye were bandages. I wore those almost all the time. It made people more comfortable around me. And it was already uncomfortable enough for us both when I had to deal with normal people.

As I approached Ichiraku's, I noticed familiar voices coming from within. The tenor of Sakura's voice, and the answering drawl of Sasuke. Years of training caused me to stop dead when I heard my name.

" – he's _different_." That was Sakura.

"He's been through a lot." The reply was from my raven-haired teammate.

"Have you heard the rumors?" She dropped her voice low enough that I had to slink closer in order to catch her next words. "They say that he killed two squads of enemy AnBu by himself before he was captured, without any weapons."

"Stories are always exaggerated, Sakura. You know that."

"And now," She protested, "He puts you in the hospital in a 'friendly' spar, and nearly kills three of our most powerful Jounin alone!"

"So he got more powerful when he joined Spec Ops. Did you expect anything different?"

"I just miss the old Naruto…" She sighed, and continued, "I don't know who came back from that mission…or from training for that matter, but it wasn't my teammate."

I felt my heart clench, and I took a step back. The noise caused Sasuke to take notice, and I felt his awareness wrap around my chakra signature.

"Narut – "

I pressed my third and final tattoo – a seal – on my wrist, palmed a tri-pronged kunai, and launched it straight into the air. I was gone before they cleared the side of the restaurant.

When I appeared in the air next to my kunai, I immediately grabbed it and threw it yet higher, teleporting again.

Wind whistled through my hair as I fell to the earth. I reached terminal velocity and felt my eyes water from the air. I closed them. I had changed. I wasn't their teammate anymore. They were correct. I was a machine, a deadly killer who took gleeful pleasure in taking them apart during training.

It's common knowledge that all AnBu, whether retired or not, are a little jacked up in the head. We think differently. Instead of thinking in terms of comfort, we think in terms of survival. It's what makes us so deadly. Well…it's one of the things that make us so deadly.

I lit on the ground without so much as disturbing a cat napping on the trash can next to me, and headed for home. Fifteen feet down the path I was walking, I reached out and plucked the falling kunai from the air, deftly re-sealing it into the small tattoo on my wrist.

The next morning, as I predicted, I awoke in the interrogation chambers.

The light swung into my eyes, far too bright even behind my eyelids. I sighed. This old song and dance. Reaffirm my loyalties to Konoha. Get a thorough debriefing. Decide whether I should be retired or not. Assess my goals and values. Determine whether I was a liability.

Or more accurately, determine exactly _how much _of a liability I already was.

I was almost touched to recognize the gruff voice of Morino Ibiki. At the least, they had given me el numero uno, the head honcho himself. Morino was ex-AnBu, so if anyone would be on my side…he would be. Once an Operator, always an Operator.

"So, boy," He sounded more like he was chewing the words than speaking them, "it's been a while."

"Hello, Morino."

"Let's keep this quick. Tell me what I need to know and I'll send you home as quickly as you let me."

"I understand. What would you like to know?"

He was about to ask about Sasuke, or why exactly I had joined AnBu, or perhaps whether or not I harbored ill-intent to Konoha. That last one would be served as a shocker to frighten me and set me off balance. I was not, however, prepared for what he _did_ ask.

"Do you still want to be Hokage, kid?"

"I – what?"

"The Hokage, punk." He repositioned the light so I could see him. "You're that little bastard who went around painting shit and claiming that you were the next Hokage. So?"

I considered it.

"No."

"And why is that?"

I had seen the dark side of this village. I had seen what we did in the shadows, the wicked deeds and the slain innocents. I wanted nothing to do with being a figurehead. I was broken and couldn't smile like I used to. I would not make a charismatic leader.

"I'm not cut out for that job."

"Tell me about what training with Jiraiya was like."

He was trying to keep me off balance. It was irritating.

"Look Morino, if you're going to waste my time at least be honest about it. We both know why I'm here, so let's just get on with it."

"From my point of view, kid, you were captured by an enemy village, and as soon as you're rehabilitated here, you put your best friend in the hospital and try to cripple your sensei."

"If I had wanted to harm Kakashi, he would already be crippled."

"Did you know that you put him and Asuma in the hospital with your little spar?" He watched my reaction – or lack thereof – very carefully.

"I was not aware of that."

"And yet you don't seem troubled by it."

"Am I supposed to apologize for being better than them?"

"A funny way to show your friendship. That's all I'm saying. First thing back and you've already put half your team in the infirmary."

I let out an angry breath. "Have I done something for you to question my loyalty?"

"Have you done anything to prove it?"

I laughed. "Oh, how about when I saved the village from a rampaging Bijuu at birth, or later, when I fought a second to keep it safe. How about when I joined special operations and killed brave Konoha ninja because it was a part of the game? How about – "

"You think this is a game?" He made a note on a legal tablet, then focused on me again. "I take this very seriously, Uzumaki."

"I – "

There was a knock on the door. It was more of an urgent pounding, really. Morino started, looked wildly at it, then back at me. He stood.

"Don't go anywhere, kid."

"I'm done talking to you."

He stopped short of the door and turned back.

"Well I'm not done talking to you."

The door swung open. Now, remember that this is an interrogation room, deep within AnBu headquarters. Doors did not just swing open.

"Actually, you are." Danzo stepped into the room, and immediately the tension rose dramatically. Morino adopted his sheep-looking-at-a-wolf look, and glanced back at me. "Leave us."

Morino left without a word. I considered again the commanding presence Danzo seemed to have.

"Special Operator Uzumaki Naruto, code-name Wolf." Danzo had no file in his hand. He was reciting from memory. He sat opposite me, and two shadows sprung up on either side of him. One closed the door and sent a spiderweb array of privacy seals skittering around the room while the other melted into a corner. "You were assigned to the Special Assassination and Terrorism Division under Tenzo, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Yes _sir_," He corrected, "I'm told that you've been taken off the AnBu roster."

"That's right, _sir_." I spat the word like a curse. "I was deemed unfit for duty."

He leaned forward, resting on both elbows. "I would disagree with that assessment."

I tilted my head at him as he sank back to a normal position once more. He cast his eyes about the room, considering his next words. "I heard that you killed two whole squads of AnBu alone when you were taken in Iwa."

"That's the rumor." Did _everyone_ know about my operation?

"I also heard that despite months of torture and captivity, you didn't give them a single piece of information."

"Fuck them."

"Quite." He stared directly at me. "Did you know that it was one of my Operatives that recovered you?"

He suddenly had my undivided attention. "Your…Operatives?"

"What do you know about black ops, son?"

_Prospect_

* * *

**End of Chapter Four**


	9. Operative Pt 1

**Chapter Five**

_Operative_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

I lay on my back in the mud. Rain fell around my body. The darkness of the night and the mud itself hit my presence. My body was inert, taking in no air nor breathing out. I was in a state of deep meditation, completely in tune with the world around me.

Allow me to be very clear: I don't mean in tune as in all that sage bullshit Jiraiya rambles on about, I mean my ears were pressed to the mud and I could feel the very vibrations of their footfalls, beating a rhythmic tempo at odds with the rain.

Our targets landed. I noted the double-thump of Neji's heartbeat restarting and sent a small shock to my own heart. Lightning flashed as we rose, faster than our own eyes could track. From blind memory we stuck tens of times as we came to our feet. I felt small precise flashes of chakra as Neji came to his full height, signaling the sealing of his opponent's tenketsu.

For myself, I touched and ripped through my enemy. In my hands were two knives called Karambits. They're wicked raptor-talon blades meant for self-defense and to be concealed. They're foreign blades and had to be special ordered.

As thunder rocked the clearing, four ninja fell to the ground around us. They weren't our first victims, nor would they be our last. I have not seen Konoha or any of my friends in weeks. Neji and I were living off the land, and killing enemy AnBu where ever we came into contact with them.

During my recovery, I had learned that Kumo and Kiri had allied against us, and we had managed to sign a treaty with Iwa and Suna. The next great ninja war was at a precipice. Our handler had told me that the Operative that had rescued me left traces that pointed towards Kiri, and therefore Iwa signed with Konoha.

Our cell is made up of two men: Neji and myself. We were both fully 'qualified' Clandestine Response Operatives, or C-R-O's, pronounced crows. We did not exist and I was technically a civilian after my traumatic foray into enemy territory. I 'left the village with Jiraiya' a lot to help him write his books. Even the Hokage believes this, as Jiraiya is one of the perhaps three in Konoha who know about Black Ops. Oh, plenty of people 'know' about us, but that knowledge doesn't extend past rumor form.

Depending on the rumor, we're either guardian angels or grim reapers. Both are true. There is no standard day at the office for me. We are nightmares, shadows, and we are the plague. Where we tread, death follows.

We're disallowed to leave calling cards. Or witnesses. But our techniques, of course, are talked about in hushed tones. No ninja village takes our existence seriously, but among their troops, rumors abound.

They say that a crow or a raven is an ill omen. It is. Our only herald is the crow. We substitute with them, embody them. We do not have an insignia, but if we did, I have no doubt that it would be a crow.

Each of us has a tapestry of seals around our bodies. Our tongues are sealed against speaking of our mission. Our cheeks are sealed for summons. Why take the time to raise your hand to your mouth when you can simply nip your tongue or bite your cheek? All Black Operatives have signed the summon contract for the crow.

My eye has been replaced; I was given an eye of darkest black. The dual colors unsettle some people. It may not seem like much, but drop a killing intent sharper than a Sannin's along with the speed of a black operative, and a slight shadow of hesitation will mean your death.

I spared Neji a look. If he was still affected by my eye, he did not show it. Calmly, he met my gaze. With the barest hint of a nod, we simply ceased to exist. AnBu can vanish, but we leave without as much as a lick of disturbed air. As if we were never there.

We were in Lightning Country, retrieving a Special Operator who was stuck. He was injured, but had not been captured. They were searching for him – but so were we. It was imperative that we find him before they find us.

If I had been any less focused on finding him I would have wondered about his identity. After all, Special Operations was a close career field, meaning that I probably at the least knew _of_ him. I guess we would find out.

Neji's Byakugan was pulsing with chakra next to me as he searched for our quarry. After an undetermined amount of time, he ticked an eyebrow. I felt rather than saw the action, as we were in extremely close proximity. His eyebrow was pressed into my cheek. The two of us were inside of a hollowed out tree prepared specially for this mission. Small titanium rods kept the tree stable and standing while we enjoyed the relative warmth and the escape from the rain.

However, the tick of the eyebrow meant he had found what we were looking for. I allowed him to exit first, feeling only the barest hint of tension in his muscles before I suddenly had room to move. I followed him, substituting myself with the precise volume of air I had been inhabiting.

We flitted from tree to tree, chakra buffers keeping our footfalls or hands from disturbing even a piece of bark on the trees. As we neared a particularly muddy clearing, Neji stopped, and made a bare gesture towards a lump of mud.

As I was about to approach the man-sized lump, voices drifted through the trees. Immediately Neji and I left, and from cover we watched them almost pass the mound before slowing. One of them pointed.

I followed his gesture and almost groaned at the reed rising out of the mound. It was clearly used for breathing. The ninja from Kumo slipped hands inside of cloaks and silently turned to approach the mound, as I had done. Unfortunately, they also had considerably more malicious intent than I.

I preformed my modified version of the Hiraishin, appearing upside down and slightly above them. Before my senbon cleared my sleeves, however, both ninja fell dead. In my surprise, I almost made a noise when I landed.

Almost.

Now that the clearing was…well…clear, Neji re-emerged as I superheated the air in front of me with a small fire technique. Without igniting a flame, I dried the mud covering our lost operator, and helped him rise to his knees, brushing the crumbling mud from his shoulders.

I was taken aback. Jin looked at me in surprise, not recognizing me or my now-black hair. He put away the two obviously poisoned senbon he was carrying while I shook my head and felt water fling from the shaggy stubble on my cheeks. He understood.

Hell, we all understood. As Special Operators, when you're recovered, you don't question who recovers you. That was something that was understood universally without ever really being taught. If we had been taught, then we would have asked questions. But we didn't. And Black Operations was able to continue existing, and continue saving the lives of those that no one else could save.

I pulled him into a fireman's carry and Neji and I left with almost as much stealth as we had appeared. I was slowed a bit by Jin's weight, but Neji did not complain and I redoubled my efforts. I was carrying him because with his Byakugan, Neji had an advantage in spotting enemies. Since it was quicker for him to dispatch threats than to relay to me so I could dispatch them, I always got stuck with the heavy work.

Neji had been my partner from the beginning. There was no official training program, but we were mentored by Black Operatives, picking up skills and being made fun of. We were expected to operate at their level, and be it pride or stubbornness, we met those expectations.

We had joined together. We sat across from each other as the two Black Ops sealing masters painted the dark ink onto our bodies. We honed each other's skills, and watched each other's backs.

Hyuuga Neji was my brother.

After only a brief stop to slaughter another pair of roving Kumo ninja, we crossed the border into Frost Country. It is home to Shimogakure, the Village Hidden in Frost.

Where Lightning Country is a mix between massive mountain ranges and lofty plateaus, Frost Country is a series of ranges that, as you continue westward, get progressively smaller. Hot air from the ocean comes inland and rises immediately with the strong air currents from Hot Spring Country, leaving Frost Country with brutal winters and temperate summers.

Their shinobi village was relatively minor, yielding only a couple new ninja every year. They made enough to get by, but would either side with Kumo during the war or be obliterated.

As the war kicks off, we expect to engage heavily in both this country and the neighboring Hot Spring Country. To the south along the coast was Whirlpool Country, a staunch ally but the first target of Kiri, no doubt.

Iwa has taken responsibility of the defense of our northern border, while we focus on defending our eastern border. The reasoning was simple. We fully expected to lose ground. The fighting would inevitably extend into Fire Country, and be brought right to Konoha's doorstep.

Suna is our main backup, lending military force and no small amount of reinforcement to both us and Iwa to the north.

Even now Iwa is sending ninja through fire country into Yu no Kuni, or Hot Spring Country. I'll just use the shorthand from now on because I'm tired of writing out the entire name. Seals are being set on the Kumo side of Shimo no Kuni (Frost Country), which once tripped will alert the Iwa forces in Yu to advance. They plan to use the naturally mountainous ranges of Shimo to their advantage.

That's thinking too far ahead, though. Right now our main concern was to get Jin back into Konoha silently. Because he was injured, we moved at almost insane speed through both Shimo and Yu, reaching Fire Country quickly.

Soon enough we reached the gates. Neji stepped on a branch, snapping it and drawing the attention of both Chuunin guards to the wrong place. Simultaneously, I ghosted behind them, meeting the eyes of the four Sentry AnBu while signing _dark_ to them. Their captain murmured something and they focused on their duties, ignoring all three of us.

I guess it's something that only is taught to Craftsmen level Sentry AnBu, the instant subservience to the _dark_ sign. It's the only way we can bypass them to get into Konoha. Oh, we could sneak past the Chuunin easily enough, but now that we're on the verge of war, our security measures have heightened to an almost ridiculous degree. A chakra barrier existed around the village, alerting all Sentry-nin of incursions instantly. Each clan has its own special barrier as well.

The Hyuuga Compound, being the most valuable place in Konoha due to its unusually high quality of ninja, was protected by a physical wall of chakra, dropping only to allow particular people in.

We burst through the window of the emergency care room, raining glass down upon everyone. As they screamed and shielded their eyes from the glass, we vanished again, leaving Jin on the ground.

The med-nin would accept him and fix him. Our work was done, and we had to report immediately to our master. Bypassing the Hokage Tower, we slid through shadows and alleyways before entering the poor section of the city. Inside an abandoned building, amid the dust, stood our handler.

Tera and his partner Dajimu served as our parent team. They frequently reminded us that our entry into Black Ops was highly unusual and only done out of necessity. I don't think they liked us very much. But then, it was hard to tell with anyone in Black Ops. Nearly all of the Operatives here were taken in as orphans, and washed free of emotion.

Bypassing that for the sake of time, Neji and I were only taught to carefully control our emotions. It set us apart from our colleagues. However, as we spent more time with them, I began to notice quirks. For instance, Tera would flex his right index finger when he was annoyed.

Dajimu would clench his jaw when he was pleased. Tiny movements that marked them as human, despite their brutal training that overshadowed any hardship that I endured. They were tight-lipped about their training, but as time wore on, we finally heard Dajimu tell us his tale.

They were raised as brothers, he and his counterpart. They were close. They ate together, they slept together, and they bled together. But then, much like regular AnBu, they were forced to kill each other. Only instead of killing a classmate…

Tera had shaken his head at us and in a rare display of humanity, he placed a hand on Neji's shoulder. The action caused both of us to freeze, unused to the Black Ops displaying emotion. It had been a onetime occurrence, however, and ever since Tera and Dajimu had both been tight lipped and as secretive as ever.

Back in the present, Neji and I debriefed Tera, our handler, and were dismissed for two days of rest. Neji and I both left, the dust not even bothering to rise in our sudden movement.

I spent the two days attempting to socialize. This was a very important part of our lives that was repeatedly drilled into us from day one. There were two reasons. First, if we could be seen in public acting normally or encountering day-to-day problems, then people are less likely to think about our long absences and what we're really doing. They don't consider that we might be in covert ops. The second and more important reason is that it helps us hold on to our tenuous thread of normalcy.

After ops, we have to wind down. If we don't continually practice reintegration to the normal forces, then we'll eventually lose all composure and become machines. Contrary to what the Hokage may believe, Danzo doesn't value machines, or mindless drones. Unquestioning loyalty, yes. The willingness to lay down one's life, yes.

Machines are single-purpose. They're efficient. But they break easily, and are difficult to fix. Most of the time, for us being fixed is downright impossible. The point I'm trying to make is that humans heal. Machines do not.

Neji and I are part of a new program, spurred on by the war, to create a deadlier and more resilient type of Black Operative.

Anyway, when I woke the next day I showered and once dry, started applying make-up to my body, in order to hide the seal marks. I went over several storage seals, I went over a reverse-summoning seal, a duress seal, and a sleep seal. When I had finished, I put on my civilian clothes.

The Operatives not currently in the field had artfully dirtied the clothing, making it seem as if I really had been traveling with Jiraiya. In the back pocket of my cargo pants was a slip of paper with things that I had 'experienced' while with Jiraiya. I quickly memorized them and destroyed the paper.

Nodding to Neji, who was sitting on the floor at the end of his bed with a sharpening and maintenance kit open on the floor in front of him. He nodded back and continued to polish one of his kunai. I slipped on my sandals and opened the door into the hotel's hallway.

I suppose that bears explanation as well. Considering that both Neji and I were out of the village for extended periods of time, often for weeks or months at a time, it was silly to own a house in the village. Because of his Black Operative status, Neji could not live at the Hyuuga compound. He was 'serving as honor guard to the Daimyo'. Even the Hokage believes this, due to string pulling by Danzo.

Think of it from a purely monetary standpoint. If you are in a city, say, four days per month…why pay a month's rent when you can rent a room for those days for a fraction of the price?

You're probably thinking 'why don't you just stay at the barracks, like the AnBu do?' Well first off, Black Ops has no headquarters. We meet in varying places around the village. A building for us all to sleep in is one, highly dangerous because an enemy could target us as a group, and two it would be noticed at some point and questioned.

I left the hotel, nodding at the receptionist. She looked briefly at my bandage-covered eye before forcing a smile. I did not smile in return. I had let the dye run out from my hair, leaving it golden again. The ponytail reached the middle of my back. I sort of like it.

At the end of the braid, I have woven in a heavy obsidian stone. It had no particular shape, but the weight of it could crack a bone if swung hard enough. Just another weapon for my ever-growing arsenal.

I was wearing normal wooden sandals with off-white cargo pants featuring mud-red designs on the bottom. I wore a similar shirt to match the mud-red of my pants and numerous leather bracelets on one arm. On the other, I wore nothing.

I wasn't sure where to go, so I started walking aimlessly around the village. It took me a moment to remember who I used to hang out with. My choices seemed to be Sakura, Ino, Sasuke, and perhaps Saiyu.

I wasn't sure what they were doing. We're uninvolved with the affairs of regular forces and special operations. I imagine that Ino was raising her daughter. Sakura would probably be pursuing her career at the hospital. Sasuke…who knew what Sasuke was doing. We had an agent on their team, to control Sasuke and monitor him.

The thing was, I had no contact with that agent, nor did I know who he was. In fact, the only agents I was actually aware of, I've already introduced.

After walking aimlessly for about an hour, I decided that I was bored. Instead of looking for anyone or hoping to bump into them, I retreated to one of my favorite haunts, the Rusty Kunai. It was a dingy, dark place in the midst of the poor neighborhood. It continued to exist solely on the custom and protection of its many ninja patrons.

I took a seat at an empty section of the bar and let the random music and dark red lights wash over me. I ordered something strong and foul, and watched the bartender pour it. I accepted the glass gratefully and downed the entire thing in a single drink. I rapped twice on the bar for a second drink, and then sat and thought while he poured the drink. This time I took small mouthfuls instead of draining the glass.

I drank to forget the faces of the ninja I had slaughtered over the last few weeks. After every gulp of burning alcohol, a new face burned into my mind's eye. There was the one with pale eyes that reminded me slightly of Saiyu, and then there was the one with extremely broad shoulders and fluffy hair. I briefly wondered if they had families. Did I widow a civilian? Or perhaps, did I widow another ninja?

I thought of Neji. Our long nights together, and the few times we'd actually had to talk. We spoke about our pasts and what growing up was like. We talked about the girls we fancied and the ones that were stuck on us. We both shared a laugh on the fact that gentle Hinata was still head over heels for me. He told me stories about his father, and how bad he felt for hurting Hinata.

I in turn told him about the horror I had felt upon discovering that I was a Jinchuuriki, about my ex-best-friend Sasuke, and how I used to chase Sakura around.

Neji was my family. I would do anything for him, and he would do anything for me. We knew each other so well that in battle our movements were perfectly complementary of each other. I could sleep easy knowing he had my back.

Not, I suppose, that I sleep much anyway. Both of us are incapable of sleeping for more than a couple hours at a time. It's just a byproduct of long weeks and months in combat zones, or deep in enemy territory.

My thoughts were interrupted by a figure sliding onto the stool next to me. Her scent marked her as female, and I noted her hairstyle and smile before I turned my head. It was Sakura.

"Naruto," She beamed happily, "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were back!"

I put a shit-eating grin on my face and scratched the back of my head, my whole existence screaming in indignation. "Ah, you know how it is…"

She playfully slapped my shoulder. "Shouldn't you buy me a drink to make up for it?

"Anyway, what are you drinking?"

Sakura picked up my glass, bringing it to her nose. The acrid fumes made her wince and she put it down and pushed it away from her, as if it would burn her. I laughed.

"Man, Jiraiya has you drinking some gross stuff, Naruto."

I paid for her drink and she filled me in on how everyone was doing. She, of course, was still working at the hospital. She was getting ready to take over the entire affair, and had plans on opening a specialized medical technique academy. Sasuke has joined AnBu, and was currently in the training pipeline. That had surprised me. Ino's kid was getting bigger, and was hopelessly adorable.

Sakura thumbed her chest proudly and told me that she was the Hokage's first pick as successor now that I was a civilian. I adopted a hurt look, and then laughed. We talked for a bit more.

"So what have you been doing with Jiraiya-sama?" She winked at me, "Learning a lot of techniques?"

"Sakura," I began, "You know I'm not a ninja anymore."

A devious look crossed her face. "That's not what I meant, silly."

I was faintly amused. Sakura was hitting on me. Now that I no longer cared about her in the slightest, she was flirting with me. On a whim, I made a decision.

"O-oh." I looked down as if embarrassed, and once I decided she had enough time to feel smug with herself, I glanced up and held her gaze. My eye contact began to unsettle her, when I smirked. "I could show you, if you like."

She blanched, clearly not expecting me to recover and send her tease back at her. I saw the gears turn in her head as she considered my offer. While she did, I lightly touched her knee.

"Naruto…" She broke eye contact, embarrassed. However, she didn't move my hand. "I don't think that's a good id-"

I interrupted her by leaning in close. Her breath hitched as I breathed into her ear, "I'm only in town for a couple days."

I cupped her cheek, and pulled back far enough to look her in the eyes again. "I'd like to spend a part of that time with you."

A moment passed, then another. She said nothing, but nodded, seeming not to trust herself. The fact that she was slightly intoxication was most likely contributory, but I wasn't complaining.

I led her out of the bar and to my hotel, where Neji heard us coming from at least the hallway and had the good sense to disappear before we burst into the room.

The door slammed behind us, and she whirled around to throw her arms around my neck and attacked my mouth. She had enthusiasm, but I could tell from my own experiences that she had not done this often. To be fair, I had not partaken in months. As a Black Operative, it was impossible at times. I felt the rust fall from the hinges as she kissed me, however, and I grabbed her below her ass.

I lifted her while sliding my hands down her legs, forcing her to wrap her legs around me. This caused her head to be above mine, and I turned, feigning being unbalanced, and allowed us to fall onto the bed, her landing on top of me.

She grinned as though pleased with herself, and tugged on my shirt. I removed it, feeling her eyes skate across my bare chest and stomach. The long months in the field had left me with a physique ideal for killing. Ironically, this same physique attracted Sakura and caused her to take off her own shirt, leaving her in her in black shorts and a black sports bra.

Faster than a striking snake, I lashed out with wind natured chakra singing at my fingertips, touching the offending article of clothing in three places. It fell to her waist, exposing her chest to my deep satisfaction.

A blush crept to her cheeks as she hid herself by flattening her body to mine, going for my neck. I felt her lips and tongue brush my skin, and I felt her arch her back while her fingers fiddled with my belt. I closed my eyes and let her undo the thing, before unbuttoning my pants.

She swung her leg off of me and stood on the side of the bed taking off her own shorts while she drank in the sight of my body. While she was doing this, I slipped my pants down and off, kicking them to the floor along with my sandals. I was left with only my boxer-briefs, and she in her panties.

I maneuvered myself under the covers and let her slip in next to me. Sakura attempted to get on top of me again, but instead I slapped her ass when it came in range and used her surprise to overpower her. I pressed my hips against hers and let her feel me pressed against her leg as I kissed her.

She moaned into my mouth and raked her nails across my stomach, all the while squirming underneath me.

I grinned, and then gave the poor girl what she wanted.

_Clandestine Response Operative Karasu_


	10. Operative Pt 2

_Unknown Date_

"You have six days."

Neji, or Jinyuu, and I both nodded. We lit our duress seals, and a moment later we felt the pull of our reverse summoning seals. The warehouse around us warped and twisted before cold air hit our skin.

I opened my eyes, and allowed them to adjust to the change in elevation and light. When we teleported like this, it was highly disorienting. It took us both several precious seconds to adjust to our new surroundings. This disorientation was why reverse summoning wasn't used in combat.

Anyway, our contact, an Operative within Kumo, nodded to us, and then disappeared. I briefly caught a flash of red hair before the Operative was gone, but I immediately discounted that fact. Who summoned us didn't matter. Neji and I stood and he immediately took a look around the area with his bloodline limit.

After pointing for a split second, we both headed towards our target: a large water tower that stood on the side of a mountain. It supplied water to a small community near Kumo, but more importantly, it also supplied water to their AnBu training grounds. Our job was to poison that water and sabotage the training of Kumo Spec Ops. Because of its covert nature, the tower is protected by nothing except for a complicated array of seals.

Fortunately, due to his Byakugan, Neji can see those seals, and working with me, we can disarm them. Because there were no enemy patrols in this part of Lightning Country, we encountered no resistance. We stopped about two miles out from the tower and set up camp, taking two hour shifts of watching the tower for activity while the other hunted or rested.

After three days, it became apparent that the tower was indeed only protected but the aforementioned seal array. It was then, on the third day, that we made our way towards the tower. It would take at least another three days to travel back to Konoha, as activating a seal would be too dangerous here, not to mention a colossal waste of chakra, which meant that we had to finish our objective today.

It wasn't until we were we were within a stone's throw of the tower that I saw the flash of black and red. I stopped Neji with a touch, and we covered ourselves in leaves to watch.

There was a single ninja, heretofore undetected, in a rice-hat and long black robes. Embroidered on the robes were red clouds. Beside me, Neji made an irritated noise.

"Akatsuki."

I knew next to nothing about the Akatsuki, beyond the fact that they were a criminal organization. Their goals were unknown, but they were comprised entirely of S-rank or higher Nuke-nin, or missing ninja. This meant that we had a formidable opponent before us.

The ninja in question simply inspected the outside of the tower for several minutes. He or she was a shorter ninja, with a reserved stride. Neji barely made out a small ring, red in color with the kanji for 'Scarlet' etched into the stone. He also commented on the painted nails.

"Formation Whiplash One?" I asked, referencing one of our attack tactics.

"Affirm." He held up three fingers. "They work in pairs, so be prepared for the ensuing battle."

I nodded, and he dropped a finger. As he dropped the second finger, I launched a kunai almost straight into the air. He dropped the third finger, and we both took a breath.

The Akatsuki ninja reached out and plucked a strange kunai out of the air. It was tri-pronged and was wrapped in seals. He cocked his head as I was suddenly behind him, Chidori flashing towards the nape of his neck. Upon contact, he burst into crows. This surprised me. That technique was ours.

As he re-formed, a hair-thin line of chakra spiked from somewhere above our heads, aimed directly at his heart. With speeds rivaling my own, the ninja juked out of the way, dislodging his hat and revealing two spinning Sharingan, which I had the unfortunate displeasure of staring into.

Instead the world melting, it shifted almost imperceptibly. Instead of wasting time however, I sent a pulse of chakra through my system, burning through his, and narrowly avoided the kunai that nicked my face. I vanished in wisps of darkness and appeared alongside the ninja, now identified at Itachi. I touched him with one hand to steady myself as I thrust a kunai into his back.

Unfortunately, he proved too quick. He avoided the kunai and sent me sprawling across the ground, where I tumbled until hitting what I assume was a tree trunk. Neji engaged the Uchiha in Taijutsu combat while I stared up at the object I had hit.

Instead of a tree, I was face to face with a blue-skinned man with wicked teeth, each filed to points. It was a characteristic of Kiri ninja, specifically those who had achieved a position in the Seven Swordsmen. I swore and pushed hard on the ground, pushing myself into the air and away from the immense, bandaged sword that he smashed into the ground, where I had been laying an instant ago.

Forgetting fear, I rushed him, engaging him right in his face. He seemed unprepared for my ferocity, but regained his composure and defended himself. He was not as fast as I was, but he was much stronger. I felt a familiar pull on my chakra that almost sent my mind spiraling back to my Indoctrination when the blocks sucked our chakra, except this was much more powerful.

The black cloak that I wore flared behind me as I managed to land a particularly nasty kick to his solar plexus, sending him skidding backwards several meters. I sunk lower into my combat stance as the cloak settled around me. I glanced at his forehead protector.

I was right; he was an ex-Kiri ninja. If his skill with the blade was any indicator, he was most definitely a part of their Seven Swordsmen. For a split-instant, I noted the reflection of Neji and Itachi behind me from his headband. It seemed like Neji had the upper hand. I smirked, and instead of attacking, I unclasped my cloak.

It fell to the ground in a heap, and paying homage to the skill of my opponent, I allowed my chakra to manifest. I focused wind chakra along my body, the cutting nature whistling as it touched my skin. This chakra was my element. I had been trained by a nameless and faceless Black Operative on how to harness it more effectively than even Jiraiya had taught me.

It made me a shade faster, and gave each strike a cutting quality that made even the barest graze deadly. I grinned as the wind kicked up dust around me, and caused my cloak to flutter about the ground. The cold air felt great on my skin.

The Kiri missing-nin proved to be exceptionally powerful, as he evaded and blocked my more deadly strikes. I continued to pressure him, until I finally had positioned myself behind him, putting him between the battle of Neji and Itachi and myself. I slowly herded him into them, and finally pushed him away, allowing me to land next to Neji.

I noticed the tell-tale licks of air on his sleeves that signified he was also using wind-type chakra to speed up his movements and add to his lethality. While we gazed at our opponents, something extremely unexpected happened.

Itachi Uchiha tapped his partner on the shoulder. The Kiri ninja turned towards him looked him in the eyes…and fell to the ground. I heard his heartbeat stop, and was almost so surprised that I dropped my combat stance.

Itachi turned toward us, Sharingan still spinning, and raised both hands. "I'm going to deactivate my bloodline. When I do, the black orchid will bloom."

He sank to his knees and closed his eyes. Within the space of one-tenth of a second, both Neji and I had him pinned face first into the ground. Kunai pressed into vital organs, and I slipped the slashed forehead protector down over his eyes.

"Jinyuu, mark one. I will mark two." I felt Neji's bodyweight disappear from next to me as he headed towards objective one; the water supply. Objective two was under me, and as promised, I held him secure until Neji's return minutes later.

"Mark one is screaming." That meant the seals had triggered an alarm that he couldn't bypass. We only had seconds.

"Uchiha, you need to explain."

Itachi had identified himself as a Black Operative. Whether he had intercepted our code, which was virtually impossible, or he was actually in deep cover, I could not say. I spared a glance at Neji, who had his Byakugan activated, watching the oncoming threat.

"Three squads, enemy spec ops. Thirty seconds."

I swore and made a decision. I hauled the Uchiha to his feet and raised his forehead protector, glaring into his eye. It shifted into the Sharingan.

"Tsukiyomi."

We were at a tea house, with a small table in front of us. Both of us were dressed in black, but just black. He wore no Akatsuki red. There was jasmine tea on the table before us, and Itachi calmly poured himself a cup.

"Here," He said, after raising the tea to his lips, "I have complete control over the time. Days here will mean scant seconds on the outside world.

Of course, I don't need that much time. Because this technique will leave you psychologically damaged, I will limit your exposure as much as possible."

I nodded. "Continue."

"As I can see you have guessed, I am an Operative undercover. I am Danzo's contact within the Akatsuki. He told me that I would encounter you here. In fact, this is the primary reason you were sent."

"I understand." I accepted a cup of tea from the wayward Uchiha and sampled it. It was exquisite. "What do you have to tell me?"

"The Akatsuki are about to initiate war. Once the nations have weakened each other, they will strike and capture the nine tailed demons."

"I see." This did not bode well for me, as a Jinchuuriki.

"Our first strike will be against Konoha, to start the war. It is in two months' time."

"We'll be ready."

"Now, I need you to mortally injure me before you leave. Take my partners body and destroy it. Leave the sword. If it's not convincing, I will be killed and this entire op will have been for nothing."

"I understand, Uchiha."

"And…" He paused, as if embarrassed. "My brother…"

"He just joined the AnBu. He's about to graduate from the training, unless he failed."

"Oh?"

"I'll pull some strings and find out more for you for our next encounter." This was not something I would do for just anyone. Itachi however was an Operative who had been out of Konoha for years. I recognized his sacrifice. And only now that I was also an Operative could I fully understand it. "I used to be his teammate."

"Is there a girl in his life?" He looked to the left and down. "Is he still focused on gaining power to kill me?"

"There is the female that was on our team, but I don't know how important she is to him. And as for the second thing, I'm not sure. I'm not exactly involved with the Regular Forces anymore."

"Anything you could find out for me would be…"

"I understand."

"Thank you, Uzumaki."

I was shocked. "How…"

"You said you used to be his teammate. Only the pink haired girl and Uzumaki Naruto were on his Genin team, as you're clearly not Kakashi."

"Clearly not Kakashi?"

"Kakashi would never join Black Ops."

I slumped over Itachi as the technique faded, desperately trying to get my bearings.

"G-get the Kiri ninja and go!" I threw Itachi to the ground and lit another Chidori, which I used to eat into his shoulder, before I removed it and stabbed him through the chest, puncturing his lung and coming perilously close to his heart. Itachi's hand grasped my arm painfully, but he made no move to harm me, instead casting black flames into the trees between us and the oncoming cavalry.

I took off after Neji, who had gathered the Kiri ninja into a sealing scroll. The sounds of pursuit came closer to us, but at least one fire team broke off to help Itachi. We darted through the trees, narrowly avoiding our pursuers, who were now just about on top of us.

I cursed the quality of Kirigakure's spec ops and applied a concentrated bit of chakra to the ball of one foot as I pivoted to kill one. My ceremonial black ops blade sang from the sheath on my back as I felt the g-forces from my abrupt turn tug the loose flesh on my face in the opposite direction.

The metal slid through his neck and I reversed the direction of my spin, catching another under the arm pit. I threw myself to the floor as an exploding tag went off behind me, deafening me and rocking my vision. Rising, I felt Neji beside me, ready to accompany me to the gates of hell. He sank low into his familial Taijutsu stance, and began a series of divination strikes.

I myself launched a myriad of tri-pronged kunai into trees surrounding the area, and started teleporting between them. I dispatched two of them before they understood, and three more before they could react. As I was in limbo, I noted Neji stopping the hearts of three more.

The remaining spec ops stopped engaging us and held back a moment. A moment was all we needed. We disappeared again, moving at extreme speeds towards the direction of Fire Country. When they began pursuit, I created a shadow clone and teleported back to the place where we had stopped, effectively getting behind our enemies.

I killed two before they realized I was behind them, and they scattered, not fleeing, but getting away from me. I felt my seal burn as Neji attempted to summon me. I activated it and appeared next to him, allowing him to steady me as the nausea passed.

Over the next few days, we let them on a less than merry chase through their country. We used every back handed trick and deception we could think to remain alive and free. Eventually we gave them the slip by using the same method that we had used to ambush the teams searching for Jin.

We slid into the ground, camouflaging ourselves with dirt and muck, and slipped into a deep meditative sleep, allowing even our hearts to stop.

When we deemed it safe, we escaped and made for Konoha. Nothing else happened on the way back. We arrived, got debriefed by Tera, and went to the hotel. We have another two days of rest coming, so I am going to sleep and perhaps I'll write more at the end of this break.

_Clandestine Response Operative Karasu_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

Neji and I sat on the head of the Fourth Hokage, masks off but still in what passes for Black Ops gear – standard black uniform with a black and red harness to hold our tantos. Between us was an array of weapons and maintenance supplies. While normal ninja polished and up kept their gear with regularity, we inspected ours daily. Our lives frequently depend upon just how sharp this specific kunai is, or the rotational velocity of such and such shuriken.

In addition to the weaponry was a stack of dango. We cleaned and ate and talked. Privacy seals erected around us kept any ease droppers from overhearing our opinions, and seals carved into the inside of both bottom lips caused anyone reading them to be hopelessly confused.

"What are you going to do when you get out?" Neji didn't glance up, instead choosing to speak while inspecting his kunai for any irregularities.

"I might move away. Become a wandering ninja." I paused. "I suppose I haven't given it much thought."

"I haven't, either." He set down a kunai and somehow looked sheepish from the corner of my eye. "I was thinking I might become a Jounin-sensei."

I looked at him, fighting the urge to smirk. "Us? Jounin-sensei? We'd probably kill our students on their first test."

He idly flicked a piece of loose stone off the monument. "Yeah, but I want to do something normal. We've been on this team together for just about two years now and I don't even remember what the Regular Forces are like."

"Deaf, dumb, and blind." I leveled a kunai at about a 10 degree angle from the dying sun, letting the light play along the razor-edge. "I suppose going back to blissful ignorance might be fun."

"Yeah, you could be a traveling author like Jiraiya." He stood and made a ridiculous pose that anyone not as familiar with Neji would have blanched at. I grinned, and watched the semi-translucent edges of my blade reflect light.

Neji continued talking while I examined my kunai. Black Ops kunai were specially made by one of our members. The scalpels they use in Konoha hospital were made from surgical steel. Now, several of our civilian surgeons choose to use obsidian-bladed scalpels instead, because the glass holds a much sharper edge than even the most perfect steel implement. Our kunai are coated in Obsidian for this purpose, making them just slightly heavier but almost as sharp as a wind-laced blade, without any chakra.

I chuckled at Neji's antics. Perhaps after the war, Danzo would allow us to retire. It's not as if he could really truly trust a ninja he hadn't raised from childhood anyway. I don't see an alternate path unless he planned on killing us, and killing an Operative would one be incredibly difficult and dangerous and two be extremely wasteful. We're not disposable like the regular forces.

Over the break, I had also visited Ino. Her daughter _was_ adorable, with bright blonde hair and the most striking deep blue eyes I had ever seen. Even at two years old she had already started showing interest in her mother's weaponry. Ino was concerned, but I thought it was cute. I did not ask her who the father was. Down somewhere, I think I know.

Ino had rejoined the regular forces as a Jounin-sensei in the past couple years. Her team amused me, as it was Konohamaru, Udon, and a third girl that I did not know. It seems that their 'dream team' had been broken up by the Lord Hokage. She joked that Konohamaru was just like me when I was younger.

I joked that she shouldn't think like that, as I was an adorable little fucker. She just looked at me and started laughing. What a bitch.

Sasuke was training to become an AnBu. I don't know how he was doing, but I do know the Black Ops agent that was watching him joined with him. I guess he's fine, then.

Neji had returned to the hotel later that night with Tenten. I noticed him coming and slipped out the window on to the roof, allowing him his privacy. As he became reacquainted with his old teammate, I watched the stars, thinking how glad I was to finally have a brother.

Tomorrow we have another operation, so I should probably rest. Besides, Tenten's breathing has slowed so she's most likely asleep.

_Clandestine Response Operative Karasu_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

We got a hunt assignment. These are the most fun. Kill a specific target or targets, and then egress without being seen. No going undercover for months or digging your way into enemy territory with a kunai and captain bad breath next to you.

A lone Black Ops agent returned wounded from his failed op. As it turns out the remnants of the Hannyashuu, who a team of Black Ops had 'exterminated' in the past, had hunted down and ambushed the two Operatives. Neji and I were tasked to find and annihilate the group. The most beautiful part is that we were authorized, for this operation only, to go fully overt and nuke whatever we felt was necessary, so long as we didn't reveal our specific identities.

Overt Operations in Black Ops just DID NOT happen. This was a reward for our flawless mission record and also for the integral information gained from Itachi. I reveled in this Op, and I know Neji did too. It was the most fun I had had since joining AnBu.

We HALE dropped (High Altitude, Low Exposure) from fifteen thousand feet above the Land of Woods, bodies tucked tightly as narrow as we could make them, streamlined against the wind. My goggles kept my eyes from watering too badly, but pure physiology caused my vision to blur regardless. I sent a special kunai off in a random direction away from the structure.

Now, before I get too far ahead of myself, let me fill you in on the specifics. The first Black Operative had been killed, but the second, the one that returned home, had been captured and was being 'held'. However, he managed to make a blood clone out of a dying guard and escaped. They were interrogating their own guard, hidden under the guise of an Operative. It was pure poetry.

However, because they had allowed an Operative to escape, we knew exactly where their hideout was. We knew how many there were. And we knew what they were capable of. It was a beautiful, simply op.

Their little complex was hidden beneath a hill, with the entrance disguised as a boulder. Grass and rocky dirt made up their roof, and the complex spread further down into the ground. Our fake Operative was on the bottom level. We did not care about him, however. Our only task was to massacre anyone inside this place.

They had killed an Operative, and wounded a second. This meant they were highly skilled, and that our Operatives let their guard down for some reason. And Operatives never let our guards down.

My partner was also marked with a seal of my own devising. His duress would activate if he lost a certain amount of blood or lost consciousness. A secondary seal would activate, allowing me to Hiraishin to his location instantly. Because of this, we could separate. Neji did not have to come to my rescue because of the Kyuubi. No real damage could be done to me while my duress seal went off before Neji arrived.

Anyway, in lieu of the normal stealthy landing, we impacted the ground with a stone-shattering force that rocked the top levels of the complex and cracked their roof. Neji lit his Byakugan and struck fault lines in the crack while I raised my fists, gathering demonic chakra. Once Neji took a step back, I slammed the now-weakened crack with a blow that shattered their ceiling, allowing us to rain death upon them.

I lit both of the seals on my forearms, sending special senbon needles flying from my sleeves in a ridiculous arc, peppering the walls and floor. They also peppered several of the enemy spec ops. I spun and sent two senbon into each eye of a Hannyashuu ninja attempting to engage me. He was dressed in dark AnBu-style gear with a demon face mask complete with horns. I tutted even as I broke the ankle of another ninja attacking me. I punched him in the crotch, simultaneously sending needles into his bladder and two arteries on the inside of his thighs.

Masks with protruding bits were stupid. What happens when one of those spiky horns catches on a branch or a bit of your clothes? Dumbasses. I broke the chest of another ninja, not bothering to suppress my raw strength.

Neji sank to his knees and flared his Byakugan, looking for the exits. He found them and briefly explained while sinking his chakra-laced fingers into the throat of an adversary.

"THEY'RE SEALING THE EX-GUuuCHK!"

I had lodged a kunai in his throat and sank my arms into the rocky wall, calling upon the molten chakra of the Kyuubi. I crushed the entrances and all three escape tunnels with raw brute force, alerting the rest of the ninja to our presence.

Neji sealed while I protected him from threats, killing anything that got too close. I kicked the windpipe out of one ninja before rolling over Neji's back to protect his other side only to dart around him again to pop the heart of a third.

I felt the Hyuuga protective barrier go up along the insides of the complex, further sealing their fate. They were stuck in a Black Ops death trap. I could have kissed Danzo for giving us this assignment.

Neji darted into another room while I did the same, seeking more enemies. I did not worry about tactics, instead blowing through doorways with raw force and killing everyone I saw. Neji could track my progress with his Byakugan and kill anyone I missed.

I let my hold on the Kyuubi loosen as I felt Neji's tracker seal fade with distance, slipping into a three-tailed state. I felt their screams in my teeth as I ripped out their throats. The chakra I was emitting was no doubt scaring the shit out of the minor ninja village here. This would teach them to oppose us.

My limit was five tails, and for this reason, I stopped at the fourth, not wanting to endanger Neji. My chakra was molten and dark, melting the metal handrails as I passed on all fours, hunched like a beast. My very presence caused lights to pop and bulbs to explode, meaning the only light was coming from my luminescent demon energy and the techniques they used in vain to defeat me.

I roared, shaking the structure, and reveled in the fear they radiated. While roaring, I had stopped moving and as a result the metal grate beneath me melted and I fell down a level. Looking around with crimson tinged burning vision, I saw the fake Operative, who grinned when he saw me. The man 'working' on him stopped and looked at me with sheer terror. I laughed a deep, chilling laugh and ate him whole.

I bitchslapped the blood clone with a chakra-paw, instantly killing him. The extra features bled out of the man and was left as a dead enemy guard. I felt Neji several floors above me, weaving and killing enemy spec ops with wild abandon. I roared a second time and slammed a hand into the wall, shaking the structure and sending a ringing sound through it. He nodded sadly.

Using the Kyuubi's instinct for chakra manipulation, I wrapped Neji in my demonic chakra, much like I did with Ino, and teleported him to the pre-placed marker outside. Once he was safe, I released my hold altogether and allowed the Kyuubi his free reign. In exactly three minutes, my emergency seal would activate, sealing the demonic chakra instantly (the seal was made and powered by Tenzo, by Jiraiya's request). Until then, however…

I felt my mind slip. Neji filled me in later on what happened.

The air around me ignited from the sheer temperature of the demonic chakra wrapping me. The barrier shook and collapsed under the intense pressure of my chakra, which vaporized the remaining ninja and shot several hundred feet into the air, burning the night sky red and causing thunderclouds to form. Trees lit of their own accord, the forest fire raging as my five-tailed state ripped into the countryside, desperately looking for a worthy target. The minor village in the land of woods had no Jinchuuriki. They had only their Kage to defend them, and he was no Yondaime. I had zeroed in on their home and crushed their defenses, waves of boiling demon chakra coming off me in waves.

Neji followed me from a distance, ready to retrieve me when my chakra failed. He watched as I fired tailed beast balls into the heart of the village, evaporating their buildings and forever changing the landscape. When my chakra finally winked out, Neji saw no enemy ninja alive, widening his perception just to be sure.

He collected me and we returned home, leaving only a crater where the village had been previously. The statement had been made. No one would try to target a ROOT member again. When arrived back in Konoha, I was given to a heavily-wounded Jiraiya. He played his part perfectly, telling the Hokage of how I had gone berserk in the Land of Woods.

She hospitalized me for almost a week, but eventually let me out. I told her that I was fine and to stop worrying. Besides, I had been away from Black Ops for too long.

Today is our day off. Tomorrow we have a training exercise specially requested by the Hyuuga. Danzo had given them a vague offer to test their defenses when Hiashi expressed his doubt as to the readiness of the village for war during a council meeting. He agreed out of pride.

Neji and I were tasked with the infiltration. Today we planned it, and tomorrow we will execute it. It's been a good week.

_Clandestine Response Operative Karasu_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

The Hyuuga had six ninja at the entrance of their compound, and each was cycling through use of the Byakugan, in order to keep it activated 24/7. Neji refrained from using his Byakugan so as not to put them on edge. I enjoyed a bowl of ramen while Neji simply walked past the beefed up security and into his old room.

Our objective was a scroll in the Elder's Room, which held the most valued Hyuuga techniques taught only to the main part of the family. It was in a highly secure room guarded by the Hyuuga Honor Guard and accessible only by Hiashi himself.

The seals on the door were similar to the seals on the water tower we had poisoned, where we might bypass them but the entire compound would be alerted. This was only a slightly problem because there was no defense that could keep my Hiraishin out. Neji would infiltrate, I would grab him and the scroll, and infiltrate. Easy.

I fiddled about outside while I waited for his duress seal to go off, talking idly with Ino while she bounced her two year old on one leg.

Meanwhile, my partner in the compound spoke with Hiashi about what it was like guarding the Daimyo and how he brought honor to the Hyuuga family. Once dismissed, he gathered tea from the kitchens and brought it to the Honor Guard, keeping his head down and making subservient gestures while offering them the refreshment.

The two foremost Honor Guard eyed him and the tea, each one's Byakugan activated. He averted his eyes respectfully and they accepted the beverage.

There were six in all. The first two drank their tea as it was being passed back. But before it reached the lips on the last two, the foremost two stiffened and fell against the wall, paralyzed.

My tattoo burned as Neji activated his duress and I appeared next to him in a wisp of black smoke, slapping lighting seals on the neck of the back two Honor Guard. We weren't allowed to kill here, obviously.

I stood watch over the four paralyzed ninja and against any oncoming enemies while Neji burst the seal of the scroll room. Behind me, inside the room, there was a scuffle, and when I turned to look, two more Honor Guard were on the ground gaping like fish. Neji shrugged at me and grabbed the scroll. He grabbed my forearm as Hiashi bore down on us, but I had already activated my Flying Thunder God technique, appearing at Ichiraku's next to a supremely confused Ino.

We bade her farewell and made contact with Danzo himself, who accepted the scroll and nodded, scowling. From him, that was the equivalent of a hearty cheer and a clap on the back, so we returned to our leisure activities, pleased.

Neji and I were on the top of the Yondaime's head when we encountered them. It was Hiashi, flanked by two other unknown Hyuuga nin and Hinata. Hinata looked scared and worried, but Hiashi was livid. He admonished Neji, who swore at him.

The atmosphere was amusing. Neji could single-handedly destroy all four of them without even activating his Byakugan, so I remained sitting, continuing to polish my raptor claw knives and smiling to myself.

I idly noted the tensions rising and the rising voices. Neji was having fun riling them up.

"If your defenses weren't so pathetic, I couldn't have just walked in and taken it. You left eight guards for the most valuable scroll in the grounds?"

"That's not the point. May I _remind_ you that as a _Hyuuga_, a _branch family member_ no less, that your first and foremost loyalty is to your family?"

"Cut the bullshit, Hiashi. I know what this is about already, and no I won't get the scroll back. Danzo-sama already has it."

Hinata jumped slightly as one of the flanking members spoke up, not nearly as controlled as Hiashi. "You're working for DANZO?! How DARE you!"

Hiashi placed a hand on the man's chest as Neji flipped them both off. "Look, fuck off. I helped you realize your security was shit. You're both dismissed from my presence."

I couldn't help it. I laughed, causing Hinata to look at me and further enraging the agitated man. He screamed,

"YOU DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE SHIT!"

My face was peppered with something warm and I rose at once, whirling towards them. The world seemed to be in extreme slow motion, and I felt the duress seal burn white-hot on my arm.

There was no sound except for a roaring in my ears. The air was warm on my skin, the dying light casting long shadows around us. I felt more than heard the crunch of my pivoting foot in the slight dirt upon the monument. My loose hair was dancing around the edges of my vision as my eyes lit upon the scene now in front of me.

I saw Hinata's terrified face, her eyes riveted on Neji. Hiashi was screaming something. I found that odd, as I had never seen Hiashi display such emotion. His face was contorted and he was turning towards the man who had called Neji a little shit. The air on my face as I whirled left a cold sensation on where I had been peppered, identifying whatever hit me as liquid. I finally registered Neji.

Standing between us, he had been out of focus. I was looking at his family, knowing Neji was not the threat. He was standing extremely loosely. Too loosely for an Operative. I realized that his body was falling. There was something wrong with his head; it was too…jagged. My eyes finally finished focusing on him. Where his hair used to be was only a bloody mass of bone and flesh.

As his body fell out of my line of sight, the man who had yelled at him appeared. I didn't see him immediately because Neji's body was blocking him, but now that I could, I noticed that on one hand he held a hand sign.

It was only then that I remembered the curse my brother had fought against his entire life.

_Unsigned_

* * *

**End of Chapter Five**


	11. Traitor Pt 1

**Chapter Six**

_Traitor_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

This village has a hard on for deactivating me. It's always the same old song and dance. Tragedy strikes. Everyone becomes afraid I'll snap, so they deactivate me. I somehow get promoted to something even more bleak than whatever my assignment was. Joining the Shinobi Academy was motivated by the tragic loss of my parents. Joining AnBu was motivated by the tragic loss of Sasuke, my brother. Accepting a position in ROOT was motivated by the tragic loss of Tenzo and Yugao. So what then, will I ascend to with the tragic loss of my brother?

You can say what you want about Danzo, but he knows the human mind better than anyone; even Morino. The moment he learned of Neji's death, he came to me in person and told me I was relieved from duty. Black Ops is too important for anyone _this_ unstable. Never mind that several Operatives killed their own friends; their own families. That's acceptable, because it was during a mission. The Operative can rationalize that, due to his mission requirements, the person had to die. Neji had no reason to die; therefore Danzo did not expect me to remain in mission-ready form.

Didn't he know that a mission was exactly what I needed right now? I needed something to take my mind away from this. Over the course of changing into a Special Operator and then a Black Operative, I've become very, _very_ skilled at blocking out pain and desensitizing myself from it. I turned my apathy on the moment I realized what had happened. If I don't think of Neji, he's not really gone. Only an Operative, or I suppose a very skilled Operator, would have the wherewithal and mental control to achieve such a feat.

There was no debriefing, no reintegration. It was as if my years in Black Ops never happened. Jiraiya and I returned to Konoha for good, and everything was peachy. The return of Jiraiya was actually a stroke of good luck. Having to deliver an important message to Tsunade, he was already on the way to the village when he received the notification from Danzo.

So yesterday I sauntered into Konoha, acting as if I was glad to be home. In reality, I went straight to my apartment and got in my shower. I felt so _dirty_. I'd been in the field for months at a time, stretches so ridiculously exhausting that I would return home and forget that such things even existed.

I stood there, the water coursing down my body with my hand on the cool tile. The steady hiss of water was the only noise in the apartment. The temperature was scalding; the dial turned all the way to hot. My skin was turning a merry red color as the heat irritated my flesh. I made no move to wash myself, instead preferring to stand immobile while the water cooked me unevenly.

I stood there for so long that the water lost its intense heat, and then cooled to the point that it was as if the dial were turned in the opposite direction. The red lines on my body slowly disappeared, as my skin continued to waterlog. I was still for so long and distracted so thoroughly that when a knock sounded on my door, my neck cracked as I whipped my head towards the noise.

I didn't realize my arm was out with a gleaming, black-edged kunai until I felt an ache in my shoulder. The action was so ingrained through years of tortuous training and life-threatening nights that I couldn't even sum up the energy to be annoyed. The knock sounded again. Urgent; impatient.

I toweled myself off and wrapped the thing around my waist. It suited me. That is to say, just like the edges on my weapons and the cloth on my gear, it was black. Not bothering to find a shirt, I opened my door to find a group of ninja before me. I didn't immediately recognize them, not until a dark haired man spoke my name. Crossly I realized that these people knew me as Naruto, not Karasu.

Before me stood the remaining Shinobi of my graduating class, plus Tenten. I noted dryly that I had watched both of her teammates die. Before I could remind myself that I had killed one and failed to protect the other, I opened my mouth to ask them what they wanted.

It was a simple request. A group of people shows up on your doorstep, the first thing you want to know is who they are or what they represent. That question answered, you'd want to know why they were on your doorstep in the first place. You'd think I had asked them whether they preferred taking a dick in the ass or their mouths. Incredulous faces stared back at me as understanding slowly dawned on me.

They wanted to celebrate my return. Of course. The triumphant return of Konoha's Hero. The dark haired man, now identified as Sasuke, stepped towards me.

"You should come a day earlier; my graduation was yesterday."

His words processed in my mind as I made a mental note for Itachi. A casual glance told me that his tattoo didn't mark him as an Ace. The fact that I looked at his tattoo wouldn't be suspicious. When meeting an AnBu, frequently that was the first thing you looked at. Then I noticed that he was in his AnBu uniform.

His hair seemed somewhat long to be a recent graduate. He noticed my attention.

"It's a technique to increase keratin output." He smirked, "In layman's terms, it's a way to make your hair grow quickly."

I nodded. The rest of the group fidgeted uncomfortably as I watched them. I was reading their body language and stances. As taught by my mentors, just the way they were standing told me volumes about who they were. Kiba's loose stance denoted arrogance, while his slightly bent knees told a story of quick reaction and the expectation of a fight to break out at any moment.

They weren't bent in a way that suggested that he expected to fight _me_ specifically, more of a general readiness. I approved. However, I did not approve of how low he held his shoulders or how he had his hands tucked into his shirt. They could catch on an edge of his coat or clothing while extracting them. The split second it would take to free them could mean his death. I could reach his throat in less than a second with my blade.

Sakura was just beyond Sasuke, her eyes twinkling. Clearly she had not forgotten our encounter. Hands together under her throat, her fingers were intertwined. That would cause a very slight slowing of reaction when she moved to defend herself. Her feet were slightly too close together, meaning she'd have to shift her weight before she could move. However, defined ridges in her arms showed how strong she was. Because of the position of her arms, the easiest way to kill her would be to disembowel her. It was unlikely that she'd be able to lower her arms in time to defend herself, and she would be too surprised to jump back.

Tenten's eyes were downcast due to the loss of her teammate. Her arms hung loosely at her sides. As I moved, her head would snap up, exposing her throat. My blade would sink right through her windpipe before she even moved to defend herself.

Shino wasn't present; probably on a mission, but Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino were. The fat boy grinned good-naturedly at me, and immediately I knew that because of his surprise, he would take the longest to respond and therefore would be my final target.

Hinata was also absent, most likely home grieving the loss of her cousin.

Shikamaru, however, was standing leaned slightly forward, one hand in his pocket, while the other hung at his side. His expression was calm, but by a slightly protruding tendon in one arm and the fact that his weight was on his back leg, I knew that on his hidden hand he held a sign, and that as I moved he would shift backwards. He would have to be my first target then, so as not to be immobilized by his technique.

Sasuke, of course, stood with the precise stature of a Special Operator. Even freshly out of his training, he would respond immediately to my attack. In fact, he might even expect deception, having eaten, slept, and lived with it for the last few months. But because I went through identical training, I knew that if I exposed my kidney slightly, I could tuck his strike into my armpit and crush his ribcage. I would have to do this while taking out Shikamaru.

Leave it to the genius to position himself slightly out of my range, then. I supposed that I could send a spike of wind-natured chakra towards him, but it would waist a second as I formed it. A second he would use to immobilize me. Irritated, I sized up Ino as I continued to plan.

Her eyes bore into mind. Next to her, a little girl clutched at her hand, and hid partially behind her mother. Ino's weight was on her toes, ready to kill me if I moved. Narrowed eyes and a stern facial expression told me she knew what I was doing and that she was prepared to stop me if I did anything. I didn't care. I could kill both Ino and her daughter before she could even blink. This entire episode would end before half of this group even knew it began.

It was only then that I realized the kunai was in my hand, shaking slightly at my side. I noted that my muscles were tense, and that my weight had shifted to _my_ toes. As I noticed this, I realized that I had been subconsciously preparing to kill my friends. My _friends_. I still had those, it seemed. Although, do people you knew once still qualify as friends after you've changed so drastically?

I laughed and put my kunai away.

"Sorry, sorry. Jiraiya and I just came from somewhere pretty sketchy and it's habit." I closed my eyes and scratched the back of my head, instincts screaming at me for depriving my brain of the picture of them.

I invited them inside and with annoyance, noted that only Sasuke and Ino walked with the grace of a killer. The rest ambled in carelessly, with the slight exception of Shikamaru, who still seemed slightly on edge. He wasn't experienced in our arts as Sasuke and Ino were, however, and so he held himself slightly less than optimally.

It was with some trepidation that I turned to face them as they made themselves comfortable in my living room. Predictably, Sasuke and Ino both positioned themselves near the window, whether as a conscious action to be near an exit, or because they subconsciously knew that I was a predator here, and I had allowed sheep into my home.

And I was the predator here. One fresh Special Operator and one retired did not a challenge make. Even with the Jounin level that Sakura enjoyed, this group would not be a match for me. I could kill them as easily as they killed civilians. Only the two spec ops would even cause me to _think_ about hesitating.

They engaged each other and me with mindless banter, talking about the most recent Chuunin Exams and whether Shikamaru was hot for some Kunoichi from Suna. They did not discuss the upcoming war. They asked Sasuke about his training, which he told them was classified but that it was extremely challenging. None of his old arrogance showed through. A byproduct of the physical and mental indoctrination of Spec Ops, I supposed.

They asked me about my travels with Jiraiya and I recalled several of my notecards and told them all about Hot Spring country and Lightning Country and how I was helping him write his new book (to the delight of Kiba and the shocked gasp from Sakura). I avoided any questions of training and just said that I kept myself in shape for self-defense purposes.

Lie after lie dropped from my lips. My supposed friends ate my deception without batting an eyelash. Even Ino, who was on my team, however briefly, didn't notice the fictions. After a while, someone noted that I still was naked, and as I stood to dress myself, feigning embarrassment, Shikamaru spoke for the first time.

"That is an interesting collection of tattoos you have, Naruto."

Almost pausing, I turned and smiled. Behind the smile, I cursed myself for not covering my seal array. Summoning seals and storage seals and distress seals wove around my body. Beacon seals and secrecy seals and pain suppressing seals covered my torso and legs. They couldn't even see the marks on my cheeks and tongue.

"Yeah, the land of flowers had a special kind of artist that I kinda hit it off with." I let myself blush and left the room in a hurry, ignoring Shikamaru's narrowed eyes and the amused smirk on Sakura's lips.

Once in my room, I quickly dressed. After I was fastening the last strap on my gear did I realize that I was dressed as an Operative, not as a civilian. After a slight movement towards the drawer that held my civilian attire, something in me switched and I launched myself out the window, feeling the glass shatter with the force of my propulsion. Disappearing from the Shinobi that clustered around my broken window, I felt my feet switch directions mid-tread.

I think somewhere deep down I knew where I was going, even if I hadn't consciously acknowledged it yet.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

They would be coming for me. The Genin of my year would no doubt try to stop me. They would not even see me. The Jounin that served as my mentors would also come. They would never find me. The Hunter-nin, as well. Likely the Hokage herself would come after me, to take me home. She would fail. No. _They_ would come for me.

_Silence heralded my arrival as I landed in front of some unfortunate Genin. Her eyes lit with fear as she recognized me; a face out of Konoha legend. They had dared earn my ire, and now their entire family would suffer my wrath. I advanced upon her, with the intention of savoring her fear before I took her life._

In the past, when a ninja felt as if life were too much, or was drowning in misery, he would take his own life. But many aren't brave enough for that. Instead, they would provoke the Uchiha into killing him. Suicide by law enforcement. Civilians did the same. I considered my darker alternative. It would be swift, that was certain. None of my people would take a chance. No…not my people. But the thought held merit. Suicide by Operative.

_Immediately I was intercepted by an elder, who foolishly tried to engage me, an Operative, in close combat. I effortlessly pushed his smooth strike down and away, causing him to miss me by a full half-inch. I extended by right arm, breaking two ribs. I brought my right knee up as I grabbed his left wrist and crushed his solar plexus, then pushed him away, allowing him to fall to the ground as I faced two more Hyuuga elders. Both attempted the same foolish Jyuuken strikes as the first._

I remembered when this all started. I pictured the heaving, fearful sobs of the Recruit from so long ago as he lay on the back before our formation, the injured ninja doing pushups over a pressure plate. I could still see the struggle. The shudder. I could still hear the scream. I watched him fall in my mind's eye, heard the metallic zip of the cut wire pulling taut. I watched the blood pool and the head roll to the front of our formation.

_I whirled towards the first of the two, and broke his wrist with the butt of one wakizashi as I unsheathed it. I angled my blade and caught the flesh between two of his fingers with the other blade as he attempted a second strike. He screamed and pulled his bisected hand back, but I followed and both crushed his throat and broke his neck with a single snap kick. _

A kunai, whistling through the air, the thunk of metal hitting bone. The ninja that had been two years my senior falling dead to the ground in front of the burn pit. My incredulous words. _"I don't understand."_

"_There are a great many things you don't understand, Uzumaki."_

I remember watching as she threw him into the burn pit, calling him useless equipment.

_I turned to the right, using the blunt end of one blade to redirect a Jyuuken strike, cleanly pushing the tip of my left blade into the side of his neck, killing him instantly. I turned to the girl again, and amid the bloodlust and roaring flames, I recognized her. Hyuuga Hanabi, a prime example of clan arrogance. The talented but conceited ninja before me gazed in open terror at the three elders I had just killed, their blood still wet upon my gear._

We all stood in a clearing, watching our fellow Recruit grab at our bare feet, the blood soaking his neck and chest. The horrible, gurgling choking that came from his mouth. How his eyes turned glassy, but never once left my face. How we all simply accepted the death as natural.

"_Y-You monster!" She looked at me dead in the eye. Disrespectful little girl._

"_You're finally beginning to understand."_

"_UNDERSTAND WHAT?!"_

"_What you've created."_

"_You bastard!" She took a step towards me. "I'll kill you for this!"_

_I laughed openly at her, and when she tried to strike me I calmly broke both of her wrists and shoved her back. My wolves were howling around me._

The Mad Instructor, the one who had gone crazy during the final part of my training. How ruthlessly he was dispatched. At the time, I hadn't thought about what caused him to go insane. Now, however, I knew.

"_Once, long ago, a great man ripped a poison from this village. He left a sole survivor." I watched her face twist as she realized what I meant. "On this day, I will do the same."_

_I hit her in a pressure point hard enough to crack a brick, and she fell limp to the ground. _

_By now the barrier I had broken and reactivated was flashing as Konoha ninja attempted to break through it in order to save their precious Byakugan. There was no one to let them through. Those Hyuuga on missions had been recalled to honor their fallen prodigy and bear witness to his murder's punishment. Everyone who knew how to bypass this barrier was currently either fighting for his life, or mercilessly snuffing everything that breathed._

I felt the horror in my chest as I realized I had to take my first life. How my brain didn't accept it but my arm had leapt up of its own accord. How perfectly natural and easy it was to kill Lee, dear sweet innocent Lee. He who was cursed with such a challenge but who never complained, and always smiled. How his body had gone limp and skidded forward as his limiters released with his death.

_Hiashi was almost a challenge. He threw strike for strike, and for a time, neither of us could touch the other. The negligible weight of my blades caused my strikes to be almost imperceptivity slower, and so I shed them, opting instead for hands sheathed in blades of wind._

My feet burned with exertion as I balanced on two kunai, throwing a block to a partner. A girl who I now knew as Saiyu. I remember the klaxon, and the startled look the girl next to Saiyu flashed. The kunai flew away uselessly, and the other stabbing into her foot. How the block she had been passing hit her chest and held her to the bottom of the pool while she slowly drowned. How scared she looked that none of her classmates moved to help her.

_I struck Hinata in the throat as she realized who I was. She had hesitated, and as an Operative it would have been rude not to take the opportunity to crush her windpipe. A fleeting moment of cruelty passed through my mind as I stepped up to her. As she grasped her throat and tried desperately to breath, I whispered in her ear,_

"_Hinata…I love you."_

Jin was struggling. He was going to die at the bottom of that pool. _"He's just some orphan."_ How I backhanded Saiyu, and how I screamed at the instructors. How I broke the idiotic chakra brick and hauled him to the surface. How I promised him that he'd never be alone again. Pretty words. I had visited Jin maybe six times in the years I have been an Operative. I was no friend. The only thing I'm good for is killing.

_I took a step back to watch her pained expression. How hurt she looked. I extended my hand and sank a poisoned senbon into her heart. As I heard it slow, her Byakugan winked out. She stared at my mask desperately, so I ripped it off so she could gaze on the face of her _love_ as she died. I put my fingers to my lips and blew her a kiss. A tear ran down her cheek as her heart stopped beating._

The meaningless deaths. How we had to resuscitate Yugao on my first mission. How my team was killed before my eyes because for some idiotic reason we were in the heart of an enemy village. The blood I had paid. The sacrifices I had willingly given. And as always, Konoha stood uncaring. This wasn't a village of Justice and Ideals. There was no Will of Fire. All Konoha brought anyone was suffering.

_The Kyuubi had no influence here. With the loss of Neji, there was no blazing hot fury. The kind of emotion that triggers my tenants influence was absent. Instead, cold apathy and a simple intent. I knew what I had to do from the moment I realized Neji was dead. I was focused. The only indication of feeling anything at all were my agitated wolves, bounding around my twisting body, leaping through the air as I lashed out with gleaming, obsidian-tipped blades._

Suffering. My childhood was met with hatred. Oh, how I suffered. My Academy days were met with ridicule and cold shoulders. How I desperately wanted friends. My first team. How I envied Sasuke and loved Sakura, neither of which would give me the time of day. If Konoha has given me one gift, it's misery.

_I leapt to a pool of shade and became a shadow, effortlessly flowing from cover to cover, slaughtering everyone in the compound, one by one. And once I was finished and had retrieved the girl who had so lovingly followed these people's abhorrent family traditions, I stood over her body, watching her ancestral home burn, drying the blood that now soaked the streets of the Hyuuga compound._

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

It's so peaceful out here. The night air is cool against my skin and the sky in clear. Stars are spread across the dark tapestry. I wonder briefly if they will bear witness to my death. I see no alternative here. Operatives will assassinate me for what I've done. I will have to face them. I am not powerful enough to kill them all.

I waited. Without any warning whatsoever, there were two Operatives standing in front of me. We were in a medium-sized clearing amid a sea of trees. The ground was soft, and would soak up my blood for minimal clean up. The breeze plucked at tree branches, and sent an errant leaf whirling around the clearing. My fellow crows watched me, their faces blank.

My wolves stood on either side of me, not growling, but instead silently lending me strength. I exposed my throat slightly, giving them permission. I closed my eyes and waited for the bite of cold steel, but it never came. I stood there, waiting, for what felt like ages. When I opened my eyes again, they were gone.

I sank to my knees, tears in my eyes. They hadn't even seen fit to give me a clean death. They wouldn't even do me the honor of killing me. After everything I've been through. After this _Hell_. I roared at the sky.

"**KILL ME!" **I slumped over and clutched at the velvety moss that coated the ground.

I laid there and cried. I don't know how long I was there. Probably hours. I didn't bother to hide my chakra signature or muffle my choked sobs. Let the world have my torment. Let those hunting me hear what they have created. Thorns wrapped around my heart and I reveled in the pain, curled and clutching my knees. I almost didn't notice the pair of arms that wrapped around me, or the warm torso that pressed itself to my back.

I didn't even bother attempting to draw a weapon or to kill whatever adversary this was. I had accepted my fate. I would die on my terms. I let my enemy embrace me, waiting and almost hoping for the sharp prick and warm blossom of a vital organ being struck. There was nothing except warmth. I felt myself drifting to sleep, not caring for my safety or my future.


	12. Traitor Pt 2

I woke to a scream. The warm arms had left me, along with the girl's scent. She was a female. No male would have smelled so. My eyes spun around the clearing and lit on the four Hunter-nin. One of them had her on her knees and was holding her by the hair, while the other three advanced on me. Something inside my clicked, and I laughed aloud.

"They sent four of you?" I rose to my full height as one of them, the newbie, hesitated. "They only sent four of you to kill _me?_"

The one taking point, whose mask was painted in the strange yellow brown of Monkey, cocked his head at me. The message was clear. _We're more than enough for one lunatic._

Viper, Monkey, Turtle and Crane watched as I raised my arms and let all of my equipment fall to the ground. I tore my shirt from my torso and let them see the scars from my torture. I allowed them to bear witness to my pain. To my sacrifice.

One of them, Viper, seemed taken aback. I noticed from the absolute rigidity that he recognized me. Some from my team? Someone…from Neji's team? It didn't matter. He would die here with the rest of them. I had given Konoha its chance to kill me. I would die at the hands of an Operative or not at all.

The girl, who I identified by scent as the one who had held me previously, had bright red hair. It cascaded down her face and licked her neck, even as Turtle held it in his hand, with a kunai at her throat. Her bright red eyes flashed with fear as she swept her gaze across my torso. Fear and an unidentifiable emotion. She was dressed in a light tan cloak that was torn in several places. Beneath that I could not make out her clothing.

On her head was a crossed Kusa headband, and below that a pair of glasses hid her eyes. Her exposed legs were covered in what appeared to be fish net, and her nails were painted black.

The black seals that adorn my body had caused them to freeze. I realized that they didn't know what any of my seals did. They were being cautious. I was an S-class missing Nin at this point, after all. Without betraying my movement, I was suddenly standing next to the leader, startling even myself with my swiftness. He sluggishly tried to pin the blade in his hand into my side, but I was holding him in place by his mask, allowing an electrical current to paralyze him. My grip tightened, and his mask started to crack.

Crane, the newbie, tried to attack me while I held his leader. I grabbed the blade from his hand, cutting my own, and used it to slap him across the face. He tightened his muscles, but it cracked his new 'face'. He stumbled back, looking left to Viper for guidance. I almost laughed. Had I been that pathetic as a newbie? I grinned darkly.

"Is this your first op?" He looked at me immediately. "That's adorable."

"Our fight isn't with you, ninja." Viper said slowly. "We just want the girl."

I blinked in slight confusion. How had they _not_ come for me? Was I farther from Konoha than I realized? And just who was this girl? I released Monkey, and let him fall to the ground twitching. Quickly realizing that Viper was the leader, not this pathetic excuse for an operator, I regarded him.

"The girl?" I glanced from him to her. A shaft of moonlight reflected off her glasses, obscuring her eyes from view. Out of pure arrogance and irritation I told Viper no.

"This doesn't have to get bloody."

I faced him fully. "You're right. Leave now, and I won't kill your team."

"There are four of us and one of you."

I scoffed. "Four inexperienced Hunter-nin against a seasoned Operative. And make no mistake, I won't kill _you._

"I'll just kill _them._" I indicated his subordinates.

"You know I won't allow that, Karasu." So he _did_ recognize me. He even knew my moniker. "I knew you wouldn't just accept the civilian life."

"It's rude not to introduce yourself, you know."

Viper hesitated for about a second, and then broke protocol by removing his mask. I was met with the green eyes of Jin. We stared at each other for a long moment.

"I don't particularly want to kill you, Jin." I leveled the bloody kunai still in my hand at the ninja holding Karin. "But I will kill them."

I held Viper's eyes, with my blade pointing at Turtle. Crane stood awkwardly to the side, while the ninja I had electrocuted was recovering. He had risen to a knee and his breathing had normalized. It was obvious that he expected to surprise me when he would burst from his 'recovery' position. I almost sighed at him.

"Stand down." Viper replaced his mask and turned to leave.

"But sir!" Crane spun towards him, face going from the girl to his back. Turtle released the girl and followed his team lead, but Crane and Monkey made no move to go. "She's _right here_!"

Viper didn't stop moving. "This ninja saved my life once, so we will give them a day's head start."

"It was twice." Jin turned towards me. "I was the Operative who recovered you near Kumo."

"I don't know what an Operative is." He motioned for his squad, and they all vanished with barely any air disturbance. I looked at the girl. She was looking right back at me.

I went to my gear and put it back on without speaking. Once it was all secured, I walked away from her and out of the clearing. A soft shuffling noise told me that she was following. I ignored her and continued walking, no particular destination in mind.

She spoke, the words sweet and soft. "So…I'm Karin."

"I don't care." We had reached a stream. I bent down to test and then drink the water. Relishing in the cold it brought my burning skin; I splashed it on my face. The night was alive with sound all around us, and seemed almost too-bright to be considered true night time. The full moon was shining above us, illuminating the small stream.

A voice piqued up beside me again, and I could see her looking at me out of the corner of my eye. "What's your name?"

I ignored her and stood, deciding whether to follow the river or to cross it. Deciding that she was marginally less likely to follow me if I crossed, I did. Not bothering to channel chakra to keep myself dry and above water, I stepped into the water. It came about halfway to my knees. Once on the other side, I saw with mild irritation that she had followed me across, albeit above water.

We walked like that for hours; her attempting to engage me in conversation and me studiously ignoring her. I absentmindedly tagged a rabbit with one obsidian-edged kunai and retrieved it, carrying it carelessly by its legs as we walked.

Once it started to get dark, I stopped to make camp at the base of a large mountain. The rock face rose at almost a ninety-degree angle from where I built my fire, giving us- _me_ natural protection on one side. Trees circled us, growing almost right up against the rock wall. I slipped my face mask down to my chin to expose my mouth while I prepared the rabbit over the fire, carefully seasoning it with salt from one of my many seals.

That one was a personal addition. You can only be out of the village for so many weeks at a time before you get bored of unseasoned food. So I sealed salt and basic spices into my flesh. People have done crazier things. When it was sizzling and letting off a delicious aroma, I pulled off a leg and waved it around so that it would cool.

I eyed Karin warily before offering her the meat. She accepted it, watching me the entire time. Finally, she had grown silent. I then realized that she hadn't spoken in well over an hour. I was almost proud of her; it must have been a personal record.

As I pulled the second leg off the rabbit, I couldn't help but watch her bite into the meat. Grease ran down her chin and she made a surprised noise before wiping it off with some satisfaction. Insanely, given the circumstances, I felt a wild attraction for her in that moment. I smothered it along with the fire. I allowed the coals to remain lit; they would smolder for hours, keeping us, I mean _me_ warm. If anything caught fire, it would wake me.

I bit into my own rabbit, and savored the spiced meat. I took guilty pleasure in watching Karin rip into her food with gusto, tearing it off the bone and then daintily chewing. It took a moment before she caught me staring, and I quickly looked away.

I finished and curled around the coals, looking forward to sleep now that I had sated my hunger. Only after I was comfortable did I realize that Karin had lain opposite me, and was staring me in the eyes. I sighed again. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

"What do you want?"

"I can't seem to get a read on you." She propped herself up on one elbow, now slightly above me. "First you save me, and then you walk off like you don't care whether I follow you. What gives?"

"Don't flatter yourself." I turned my back to her, settling on my other side. "I just didn't want Konoha to have the satisfaction."

"You thought that they were chasing _you_, and not me." Her voice was curious. "Why are they chasing you?"

I frowned. "Because I nearly exterminated their most prized bloodline limit."

"…" Karin didn't speak for several minutes. I was just about to fall into a peaceful slumber when her voice jerked me awake again. "You're Naruto."

I froze. "…Who?"

"Don't play coy," She admonished, "Spiky blonde hair, deep blue eyes, sun-kissed skin, but most importantly…a set of three birthmarks on each cheek."

Absently, I considered killing her. "So I look like someone you knew. Big deal."

"Oh, I didn't know Naruto." Karin seemed to be enjoying herself. "I knew his brother."

"Naruto had no brother."

"Didn't he? A raven-haired, black-eyed Uchiha with an attitude problem?"

_Sasuke._

"Neither of those people have anything to do with me."

"He plans on killing a council member, you know."

I didn't bother responding.

"Since you saved me and all…I thought I would tell you."

"I already told you," I turned towards her again and was startled by her proximity. She had inhabited the space I had made next to the fire when I rolled away from her. Our noses were less than two inches apart. Undeterred, I continued, "It was just to spite Konoha."

She said nothing, just continued staring into my eyes. It was disconcerting how brightly colored her red eyes were. They were so full of life, so vibrant.

"Naruto," The name sounded foreign on her lips. "Why wolves?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Why wolves?" Her eyes swept around the campsite, taking in my slumbering wolf pack. My little slice of insanity.

Not sure how to respond, I just looked stupidly at her. Why…I was so far out of my element. How did she…

"You can…" I was suddenly unable to meet her eyes. "You can see them?"

"I'm a sensor-type." Karin waited a moment before continuing, "Naruto…they're not psychosis…they're chakra constructs."

"I'm not expending any chakra." I suddenly noticed how defined her eyelashes were.

"I said constructs, not manifestations." She blinked prettily.

"I…" Suddenly it was all too much for me. The feeling. The proximity. The revelations. I stood, pivoting as I rose, and started towards the wall. I lay down next to it, pointedly ignoring her.

The only thing is, when I awoke the next morning, she was beside me again. She isn't holding me this time; instead she's facing away from me, but our backs are touching. She's beginning to stir.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

It wasn't so much that Neji died as the circumstances of his death. If we had been on an op, it would have been sad but I understand. His death was meaningless. He died to slake the anger of some asshole main family member. This of course was Konoha at its core. Wicked people in power, and heroes keeping those wicked people in check. Even Tsunade, the most powerful ninja in Konoha, has to play jester and fool to the council. Is Konoha a democracy? No, it's a dictatorship. Disgusting.

I feel that I rid Konoha of something dangerous. The only problem, however, is that I've begun to recognize Konoha as the core. The core of the village has been poisoned. That's not something you can simply cut out.

No, once the poison seeks that deep…better to kill your subject to save them from infecting anything else. Perhaps I should be the scalpel that ends the pathetic life that is Konoha. My demon seems to enjoy the dark thoughts I keep lately.

Indeed, the Kyuubi seems to enjoy my state of mind almost as much as it hates this girl, Karin. He rumbles and hisses whenever she nears me. Interesting. We have been wandering for days. I had relented some days ago and now allow brief conversations between Karin and myself, more to annoy the Kyuubi than to enjoy her company myself.

She has suggested that we move towards the east, making for Kiri. There's a place she wants to visit but is tight lipped about exactly where it is or why. Under normal circumstances I would be wary; the Akatsuki is after my demon after all, but currently I could give a rat's ass. I'll slaughter anyone who comes in my way.

Speaking of that, there hasn't been any sign of the AnBu team that was sent to hunt Karin. Whether it's a favor from Jin or that they've been reassigned, I haven't seen hide or hair of them. Karin has relayed that she's a sensor type, but I have been relying more on myself than her intuition. While I do let her travel with me, I do not trust her. She could be anyone. However, her company isn't altogether unpleasant.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

It had started out as such a nice day, too. The sun was out, bathing Yu no Kuni in warmth and radiance. The air was soft with just a lick of breeze. These were the kind of days that you wanted to spend sprawled in a grassy clearing or on the beach, enjoying nature.

We'd been traveling southeast, through Yu no Kuni, headed roughly towards Kiri. I was in no rush, so walking was the norm. I had accepted the idea of pursuers, I suppose, but wasn't quite ready when they arrived. Anyway I'll get to that in a second. I had washed the blood and sweat from my gear, and Karin washed hers, so we were relatively clean when we stumbled into the small village. It was alive with children and young teenagers running through the streets or trading secret kisses under the slightly stirring trees.

In a surprisingly good mood, an old man invited us to soak in his hot springs free of charge, and being weary from travel, we both agreed. Karin and I separated when we chose different rooms to disrobe. Clad in only a towel, I exited the room into the hot springs, and immediately hesitated for a split second. There were women. I initially assumed I had exited through the wrong door, but then I noticed that there were also men. This was a unisex spring. Unconcerned, I hung my towel and entered the water, almost sighing in satisfaction at the burn of the springs.

I waded to the farthest pool, where no one was sitting, and situated myself on the edge so as to observe the comings and goings of the other patrons. I sank down until only my hair and eyes were above water, silently blowing bubbles and allowing my limbs to spread out beneath the surface. You're probably wondering why an Operative of my caliber, or rather _ex-Operative _was behaving so lax with regards to security. It was simple. If anyone attacked me, I would rip them apart. And if by chance they managed to kill me; that would also have been fine. I wouldn't allow myself to be captured, but I was not and am not afraid of death.

My eyes lit on the towel covered form of Karin exiting her side of the changing rooms. I arched an eyebrow at her as she saw me, and she blushed a light pink. Shedding her towel, she started picking her way over the stones and towards me. I narrowed my eyes as I took in her appearance.

She had a fit body, with shadows on her stomach defining her abdominal muscles just enough to be sexy, and callouses on her hands. Her body apart from the hair on her head was completely shaved, except for a small vertical line of red beneath her naval. Her hipbones were barely visible, making her look slim.

Being a hygiene-oriented person, her skin was uniform color, a soft peach-pink, except for numerous marks on her arms, chest and shoulders. I hadn't seen them before because of her clothing. Angry red marks that looked suspiciously like bite marks littered her body, refusing to heal and marring her otherwise flawless flesh. I scowled, and looked back at her eyes, immediately taken aback when I realized that she had caught me looking.

Unfortunately, because she was looking at me, she wasn't watching her footing, and as she stepped into my pool, her toe caught on the edge of the rocks separating this pool from the others, sending her face first into the water.

Surprising myself, I let out a laugh as she surfaced, now a deep shade of magenta. Immediately Karin let herself fall face first back into the water so she wouldn't have to look at my face. I continued chuckling for several moments as she floated there, mortified.

She flipped around, so she was face up in the water, and took a gulp of air. "Well, that didn't go as planned."

Her words sent me into another fit of chuckles, which stopped abruptly once I realized that I was laughing. Karin seemed to notice instantly. "You don't need to be afraid of positive emotions, Naruto."

"Stop calling me that." I sat back, irritated now. "That's not my name."

"What should I call you, then?" She was still floating on her back, her bright red hair fanning around her.

"I don't know," I sighed, "Just not that."

"Why not?" She righted herself in the water and looked at me. "It's who you are."

"It is _not!_" I growled at her. "Naruto was a hero. A beacon of light in an otherwise dark world!

"And I am a monster! I've killed more ninja than Naruto has ever even met! I've ended entire family lines, slaughtered families, poisoned civilians!" I glared at her. "I've killed children. I'm nothing except for a killer. It's all I'm good at. I am _not_ Naruto."

"That's not what I see when I look at you." Karin said, softly. "There are ninja coming towards us, by the way."

"And what is it that you think you see in me?" I sneered at her, hating myself. "Ignore them. They're meaningless."

She looked at the sky. "I have a special ability. It's what makes me such a good sensor. I can see chakra. Not like a Hyuuga or anything, more like, I'm aware of it in some way. Each chakra feels a little different.

"For instance, Orochimaru's chakra was dark, sinister, and sickly. It made me uncomfortable to be around, like early night with the predators hunting. Sasuke's chakra was like a crisp winter morning, beautiful, but also deadly."

Karin sighed. "It was like that when he rescued me from Orochimaru, and it was like that when he learned the truth about his brother. The thing is, chakra doesn't change with someone. Chakra is exactly who that person is on the inside. No matter what horror or façade that person puts on, their chakra stays the same."

"So what?"

"Do you want to know what your chakra is like?"

"You seem intent on it."

"Yours is like a warm summer afternoon spent in the sunlight. It's vibrant and lovely and so bright that it almost blinds me."

Her words annoyed me. I rose to leave. "I don't need some Traitor's experiment to tell me who I am."

She was silent until I had left the water, but as I started working my way towards the changing room, her voice floated to me, too soft for anyone except my ears to pick up.

"Naruto, _you _are a traitor now."

That's when Kiba landed in front of me. A moment later, Shikamaru stepped out of the changing room, Chouji following him. While Shikamaru stayed back, Chouji jumped to Kiba, in order to back him up.

"Three Chuunin?" I sighed. "How sad."

"Three Chuunin and a _Jounin_, Naruto." Sakura was behind me, standing on the elevated lip of the pool; the far lip. Karin was looking at her as well, sinking lower in the water to cover herself.

Turning to face her and completely disregarding the three Chuunin behind me, I tiredly said, "Hurry up and say your piece so I can beat your team like a bad child and get on with my life."

"What are you _doing_, Naruto?" Her eyes were pained, and there was a note of pleading in her voice. "I don't know what happened, but you need to _tell me_."

"I ended the Hyuuga line," I shrugged. "It's not complicated."

Behind me, there was a scuffle and a roar of rage. "YOU BASTARD!" I juked to one side and caught Kiba by the hair as he rocketed past, stopping him dead and slamming him into the ground. I stepped on his throat calmly.

"Naruto stop!" Sakura was very distraught. "Do you know what they're calling you? They're saying you're the second coming of Itachi!"

That pleased me. "Good."

"_Good?!" _ Sakura tightened her gloves. "Naruto, what's going on with you?"

"Sakura, that's not the Naruto you know anymore." Shikamaru sounded bored. "He's changed."

"Will you all stop calling me by that stupid name!" I bore down with my foot as Kiba clutched at it, cutting his air. "If I hear it again, I will crush this ninja's throat."

"You mean he's a fake?" The pink haired girl directed her question at Shikamaru.

"No, it's definitely him." I could almost feel Shikamaru's eyes narrow behind me. "Think about it. He got dropped from your team without a word, and then disappears for long periods of time outside of the village. Not for years at a time, but for weeks; months. He never sits with his back to a door, walks on the balls of his feet even now as a civilian, and just killed the entire family of the most powerful ninja Konoha has to offer."

"So?"

"He's in ROOT."

She gasped. "ROOT?!"

I narrowed my eyes at their use of slang.

"I used to be in ROOT, actually." I turned my head towards him, and noticed he was several feet closer. "They took exception to my whole 'slaughtering the Hyuuga' bit."

Kiba struggled under me, and reached for a kunai. I was mildly surprised that it took him so long to think of it. I kicked him hard enough to give him a concussion.

"Just leave me alone."

"No. I'm not leaving you." Sakura's gloves made noise as her fists tightened. "I'm not losing another teammate."

"Don't be stupid." I faced her. "I'm not the same person you knew."

"I thought you loved me."

"You are just a tool to me." I laughed. "That should have been apparent when I fucked you."

Her face contorted in rage and she flew at me, screaming, "Then I'll DRAG YOU BACK!"

I caught her by the throat, not even bothering to move from my position. She grasped at my hands.

"This is all so familiar. I ran after Sasuke, and confronted him. I told him I'd break every bone in his body to take him back if I had to. He was much more powerful than me, though. He had a curse seal. I would have been killed if I hadn't been the host of the Kyuubi."

I threw her backwards into the water. "You, however, have nothing."

The ground beneath me cracked as the girl I had caught erupted into white smoke. _Shadow Clone_.

I flipped away from the debris and caught a giant fist in the chest, flinging me into a tree. That would be Chouji with his multi-size technique. I scowled. The fight here would break the village. I turned and ran, naked feet making no sound. Trees cracked either from Chouji's massive form or from Sakura's rage, and I whirled to face them.

Time slowed as it normally did during a fight. My heartbeat was very loud in my ears as I touched Sakura's wrist, causing her fist to splinter a boulder instead of my ribcage. I whirled again and threw myself into the air, avoiding a massive fist from the obvious source. I landed in the shadow of a tree and promptly froze and Shikamaru's voice permeated the edge of the forest.

"Shadow Bind: Success."

My eyes met him, and I breathed out. It was the only action I was capable of, after all. The wind around me picked up as my Genjutsu caught hold of him. It was a subtle thing, more to disorient than kill. He blinked in confusion before dropping his hand sign. The hold on his chakra wavered, and I crossed the gap between us in less than an instant, hitting him in the chest with all the bone-shattering force of an Operative, breaking his ribcage into pieces and sending the shrapnel into his major organs. He fell to the ground, dying.

I turned to Sakura and was startled when I saw Chouji fighting Karin. He seemed somewhat unwilling to hit her very hard, but there was still a crunch when his fist hit her in the side. I spoke to Sakura.

"You can either chase me," I paused and glanced at the crumpled form of Shikamaru, "Or save him."

I ran towards Karin, and scooped her off the ground before darting between two of Chouji's huge fingers. As I ran, I called back to them.

"The next team will die."

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

She had been in bad shape, so I had to resort to something drastic. I guess on the positive sides of things, she no longer had ugly bite marks covering her arms and neck, and she didn't need glasses anymore…

But was it worth it? It had been an ingenious bit of sealing, if I do say so myself. Standing on the southern coast of Yu no Kuni, her limp body on the ground in front of me, I had stabbed myself in the heart with an obsidian kunai. Now, the blade was so sharp that my heart didn't even stop beating. The healing wave of demonic energy that washed over the organ immediately started to heal it. My black heart didn't even hiccup. I extracted the chakra almost as quickly as it appeared, sealing it directly into Karin's eyelids.

The reason I chose her eyes was because they were the largest of her tenketsu. They were the most likely to accept such a foreign chakra. It wasn't corrosive as the Kyuubi's normally was. Just like a medical ninja emits a different natured chakra to heal, so does the Kyuubi. It was this magenta energy that I sealed into the archaic marks I had inked onto her eyelids.

Having no ink, and hoping for no reason whatsoever that it would help in some way, I had been forced to use my own blood. It was already on the blackened kunai, after all.

Once the seal was complete and I had sat back, uncharacteristically tired, the potent chakra washed over her chest, healing her broken ribs. I did not forsee that it would target her arms and neck, or that it would wash away her bite marks. How could I, when the Kyuubi refused to heal even my own torture marks?

I suppose it might be because the chakra I sealed into her had only the intent guiding it. It's like telling a dog 'seek' and then releasing it. Had you the dog on a leash, you could tell it 'no' when it found something you didn't want it to find. You could direct the beast. Without the Kyuubi, for lack of a better phrase, being a dickhead, the chakra simply healed all of her injuries.

She might be cross when she wakes up, but I don't particularly care. I saved her life after all. What's the sentimental value of scars over someone's life, anyway? It was a rhetorical question that I asked myself just to attempt to force myself into more humane thoughts. To me, a human life is worth almost nothing.

Then again, if they are worth almost nothing, why does the fact that I've taken so many bother me? I regarded the closest wolf, but by the tilt of one head and the prick of an ear, it was clear that he didn't know either. I sighed, and looked down at Karin.

Her red hair was obscuring her face for the most part, but the black designs on her eyelids were clearly visible. I blinked. Was even my blood black? A glance to my kunai told me no, that it was just a byproduct of the sealing technique, but the thought itself amused me.

I looked towards the sea, and blinked at the small island in the distance. It was just slightly too far to swim, but if I was careful I could most likely water walk the distance. Behind that island, a larger one rose, and I could only tell the difference because there was a strange…haze…in the air between the two.

It wasn't mist, exactly, more like the disturbed water at the base of a waterfall. It just seemed _wrong_ somehow. I'm not sure how to put it into words.

We could cross to those two islands, and then make our way southwest, to where I knew Wave Country would be. There we could secure passage to Water Country, and perhaps take refuge in Kirigakure. Or we could simply live in the wilderness. My tentative plan was based entirely on the wishes of Karin. I didn't know specifically where she wanted to go; only that it lay in this general direction. I will carry her until she awakens, and at that point she can direct our path.

Since I have no goals of my own, I take strange comfort in having something to do. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my whole life has been about orders. Less so in the regular forces than in Spec Ops and then Black Ops. In both I had simply followed my orders and watched as my actions painted the ground with blood and undermined the enemy. The enemy, of course, being anyone who wasn't Konoha.

Ah Konoha. Calling it a nest of snakes would be an insult to Otogakure. At least in Oto you can expect to be betrayed. They're _honest_ about their treachery. Konoha instead pretends to be this high and mighty paragon of truth and justice, a land full of heroes and righteous intent.

They're so fucking naïve. The poison has sunk so deep, corrupted so absolutely that they don't even _realize_ how evil they are. How many lives have I taken? How much misery hath I wrought? How much evil have I spread in the name of Justice? I, the son of the Fourth Hokage, who was the greatest hero Konoha had ever known, and the greatest villain Iwa had ever imagined.

They ignore the destruction they spread and spout about the Will of Fire, how grand it is that the youth burns with such intensity. It fits, I suppose, when you think about it.

Iwagakure, the land hidden by the rock, is represented by a simple stone. That small stone represents the unwavering resolve, the steadfast ideals of the village. Unshakable, stalwart, and solid in foundation. An unyielding military structure build upon black and white, where all Shinobi follow the orders of the Tsuchikage, even to death. No pretention. No lies.

Kumogakure speaks of the flash of lightning, how powerful, brief, and deadly it is. How in that instant it is one of the most powerful pieces of nature imaginable. In that flash the Shinobi of Kumo see themselves reflected, blinding the other, lesser villages with their brilliance. It's reflected in their training, to fight in short violent bursts instead of waiting and gauging reactions and looking for an opening. Speed, violence, power. No pretention. No lies.

Kirigakure, the Village of the Bloody Mist, carries a dark, tragic past full of pain and suffering. They have earned their nickname, and now they own it. Their pain has given them power. They've given birth to so much suffering that they're unbelievable yield of missing ninja caused them to create the first Hunter-nin division of AnBu. And yet, despite all that, Kirigakure has never pretended to be anything but what it is. It is not pretentious, and they tell no lies.

Even Sunagakure. So inexorable and relentless that they will always achieve their ends. Just like the wind, they continue on until they are victorious. It's perhaps the weakest of the give Great Shinobi Villages, but no less honest for it. Honoring an alliance with Konoha even after mistakenly invading them.

And then, of course, there is Konohagakure. The village hidden in the leaves. Only to the Shinobi of Konoha does it make sense to specialize in fire when surrounded by forest. Iwa harnessed the power of earth, which itself protects the village. Suna calls upon the power of the wind, so abundant in the desert. Kumo has learned to bend lightning to their will, utilizing the power of their surroundings. And Kiri has mastered the mist that again, protects its village.

Trust Konoha then to turn to fire to protect itself; fire which burns the very trees that hide their village. It only fits the Shinobi that Konoha produces, I suppose. Flashy, dangerous, and just as apt to burn their friends as their enemies, the ninja of Konoha, instead of following the wood element, have chosen fire. Konoha, the Village Hidden by the Leaves. I have a better name for Konoha, I think.

I am sick of false promises and gilded words. I will drop the almighty hammer of God on Konoha, and then I will watch as the rest of the Shinobi world sifts through the ashes.

_Reaper of the Hidden Leaf_

* * *

**End of Chapter Six**


	13. Reaper Pt 1

**Chapter Seven**

_Reaper_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

Uzumaki. It is the name of a dead clan; one whose only living member was me. This is what, up until today, I had believed. As you may have guessed, this belief was incorrect. You see there is one more living descendant of the Uzumaki. Her name is Karin and I have been traveling with her for over a week. Together we stared down a special operations team and fought our way through four of Konoha's most decorated ninja.

When Uzushiogakure came under attack, Karin's parents fled the village. My mother, of course, had already been living in Konoha due to the fact that she had been the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. Now, most of the people who lived in Uzushio were related in some way to the Uzumaki. It was our homeland, after all. Karin hails from a different part of the Uzumaki tree than I do, but we still share a connection through ancestors. Sort of like the Uchiha and Hyuuga, whose families were so vast that they could marry and breed within their own clan.

The Uzumaki did the same. Our family was highly praised for their skill in Fuinjutsu, the art of Sealing. So revered were their skills that travelers from all over the world would come to Uzushio to learn or observe our skills. So feared were the Uzumaki that our village was destroyed. The only remains are around me, the cracked remnants of my true home. I wonder if I would have grown up happy here.

Long ago, Konoha and Uzushio were steadfast allies. In fact, the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama, was distantly related to the Uzumaki. This is why the Konoha flak vests carry the Uzushio swirl. Such friends they were, in fact, that Uzushio gave Konoha their heiress to become a Jinchuuriki. But in Uzushio's hour of need, where was Konoha?

While my family was crushed by collapsing buildings, screaming, where was Konoha? Where were the Senju then? When the Uchiha Compound burned, where was the Hokage? When I bathed the Hyuuga streets in their own blood, did the Hokage stop me? Even now, just because she knows me, the Hokage allows a mass-murderer to wander the elemental nations unchecked. She didn't send spec ops after me. She sent ninja who hadn't even been alive for two decades.

I can't even think about Konoha without getting angry anymore. They incite a war just to ensure that when it inevitably comes, they'll be on the winning side. Disgusting.

Karin keeps me calm by telling me about herself or our family.

"I was a subordinate of Orochimaru. He left me in charge of one of the southernmost hideouts. Sasuke killed Orochimaru and found me. I followed him because I didn't know where else to go. We picked up two other subordinates and started doing missions to raise funds and make connections.

"Then Sasuke left the group to rejoin the Leaf. This was a move to get in position. He means to kill Danzo, the man who ordered his brother to cull the Uchiha."

I narrowed my eyes. Danzo. My old boss. The head of the Black Ops program. "I see."

"Sasuke is going to kill Danzo, and then escape with the help of Hebi, our group. I was 'captured' along with Sasuke in order to help him sell his story of escaping from Orochimaru, who in reality is dead. Then I escaped the village as planned, which is why they sent Hunter-nin after me."

"And it all comes together." I sighed. "So Sasuke no longer wants to kill his brother."

"There was no alternative. Sasuke still hates his brother of course, but real vengeance can only be had on Shimura Danzo."

I rubbed the raised skin that indicated the curse seal on my tongue along the roof of my mouth. So my brother was targeting my boss. If only he understood that the entirety of Konoha was the problem, and not just one facet.

My thoughts were interrupted by Karin, who suddenly reached up to cup my face. It was a testament to how comfortable I naturally was around her that my arm didn't snap to her neck like it would have to a normal person, I suppose. Her eyes found mine, but drifted to the side as she tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear. Her fingernails trailed through my thick stubble.

"You need to shave."

I glared at her as if wounded. "So do you."

Scowling, she mock-gasped and turned away in a playful huff. Stalking away, she paused at a corner and looked over her shoulder at me, calculating. But then she was gone.

Anyway. Enough about Karin. The plan now is to make it to Kiri, where with any luck, we'll be allowed if not welcomed to join in the war effort against Konoha. I certainly can't just waltz into the village on my own and route the evil that has infested it, but neither will I allow Konoha to win this war.

We're camped in the ruins today, but tomorrow at daybreak we'll head to Wave where we can get a ship.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Several Days Later_

The thing that I like least about ships is the way they continuously roll with the waves. It's annoying enough trying to stand let alone walk around with the ground pitching and yawing every two seconds. The crew thinks we're lovers escaping from my family. This is because I'm a much better actor than Karin is. If I have to play the part of a young rich lord in love with a peasant girl, then that's who I'll be.

We were given lavish quarters in exchange for a lavish gift of Uzushio artifacts we pilfered from our home. It smarted to give away a piece of my homeland, but if they can give their daughter away to Konoha, then they can give some of their rubble away to me.

The girl herself is an enigma. One second she flirts unashamedly with me, and the next she won't even look at me. It's as if she's constantly switching between two moods or mindsets. Irritating woman. Still, as living partners go, she's not a bad one. Normally I hate sleeping with another person in the bed, unless we're in the field and only then if it's Neji. It's not so much that I'm uncomfortable as that they're way too hot. Karin, however, keeps her body at the precise temperature that mine does. It's amazing. Her skin feels neither hot nor cold when I wake up next to her.

It just feels smooth. Because the woman is a clean freak, she carries with her a razor and soaps, so she always smells nice and more than one night I have woken with a hand on her smooth skin. Then again, I have also woken with a delicate set of fingers caught in my hair or her long legs tangled in mine.

We are not having sex, but we also don't talk about it. The crewmen have started making comments about how quiet we are in the cabin, but a slip of killer intent shut them up. They'll start to ask questions if nothing happens soon, though. We at least need to have a fight, or else they're going to see through our lies.

That might just be habit. Caring about whether they see through our lies or not, I mean. Who cares of some random sailors knew that Karasu went to Kiri? Let Konoha squirm knowing that I'm in the nest of their enemies. Let them worry about the top secret information I can provide the Mizukage. Abhorrent pieces of filth that they are…

No no, the reason I'm writing this is because the other night in the rigging I had an encounter. Often, in order to stay out of sight and mind of the men working below me, I take refuge in the sails. There are long beams of wood that hold the sails open, and on those I like to relax.

It was night, anchored in some placid bay. The moon was full and bright in a clear sky with stars winking merrily down at us. A slight breeze kept the odor of sweat and grime from wafting up to me, and kept my body cool in the warm night. I was on the very edge of the beam, over the side of the ship. I was simply standing, observing the ocean. We could see Water Country from here, even if it was still more than a day's travel away. It wasn't until she was within touching distance of me that I noticed Karin.

Turning, I saw that she was dressed in the simple black cloak we had both been wearing. Beneath the open front however, I saw only milky skin, interrupted by two pieces of rather irksome clothing. Her panties and bra were the same black color as her cloak, which brushed against my sides as she walked into my half-raised guard, resting her head on my shoulder.

I wasn't sure how to react to this. This wasn't just a sexual moment, there was real emotional connection here. If there's one thing they did not teach us to have, it's emotional connections and moments. My training, as extensive and exhausting as it was, did not prepare me for this. Still unsure, I patted her gently on the back.

My uncertainty must have showed, because she giggled looked at me, eyes twinkling. I have no memory of how it started, but somehow I was kissing her, and the whole world was just gone. This wasn't like kissing Ino or Sakura, this wasn't like the flings I had during training. I wasn't using her. She wasn't using me. We were simply enjoying each other.

Behind her lips was a person that I suddenly had a strong and almost unimaginable desire to protect. If I had a 'will of fire' any longer, this kiss would surely have rekindled it. When she pulled back, we were both slightly disoriented. Dazed, even. She mumbled some excuse and vanished.

I'm back in the cabin assigned to us now, but she isn't here. As silly as it sounds, I am slightly worried about her.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

Kirigakure differs from Konohagakure in several ways. First, instead of residing in a thick forest, the village is shrouded in a heavy mist. Secondly, the buildings, instead of being short and rectangular, rise from the ground in circular shapes. The largest of these shapes is where I found the Mizukage, a man named Yagura.

Calling him a man is a bit of a stretch, as he had the physique of a twelve year old. The voice and cadence bespoke an older man, however, when he demanded to know why an ex-special operations member would defect from his village and come to him. Instead of attempting to lie to the man, who no doubt had ways of defeating such an easy method, I instead told him the truth.

I was a special operator who was paired with a brother and watched as Konoha committed acts so heinous that I almost hesitated in sharing them, while pretending to be the pillar of honesty and justice that it holds so dear. I defected after the Hyuuga killed my partner over something petty, and Kiri seemed like the logical choice to go, as its bloody reputation would most likely allow me to inflict injury and death on my old friends and now-enemies.

After a brief pause, the Mizukage nodded and briefly asked one of his AnBu for someone named Mei.

Terumi Mei was a middle aged woman of about thirty, who had abnormally long, auburn colored hair and mint-green eyes. Wearing a somewhat revealing blue combat dress with a slit for her leg, she listened as Yagura told her that she was assigned to our welfare while I 'visited' the great village of Kirigakure. He told her to give us a tour of the village and then to bring us to the 'High Rise Hotel'.

She respectfully bowed and ushered us out, not saying a word to us for the duration that we were in the Kage Tower. Once we got to the street, however, she introduced herself as a Jounin of the village and asked us what we'd heard about Kiri. I bit my tongue, mind flipping through the intel reports.

Instead, we shrugged and allowed Mei to walk us through the business district. It was booming. Merchants were yelling about their wares and their deals while people milled about, shopping. It took a keen eye, however, to notice that everyone's footwear was worn down, and in some cases outright unserviceable. The fact that their clothes were somewhat threadbare also did not escape me.

Neither did the cutthroat that deftly slid his blade through a competitors neck after we had passed. I glanced at Mei, and noted a pained expression on her face.

"It wasn't always like this."

"What do you mean?" I feigned ignorance.

"Don't pretend like you can't tell. I can see from your eyes that you see everything."

"…" I made no reply, just continued looking at her as we walked.

"Everyone seems so desperate." Karin almost shuddered. "It's kind of grating; all their intent."

"It's just how things are now." Mei barely glanced at the Kage tower before catching herself and pretending to have been distracted. "With war on the horizon, it doesn't make any sense to try to change anything."

I knew immediately what she was talking about. This Jounin that Yagura had assigned to me, had either planned in the past or is currently planning a coup. Interesting. This was clearly a ploy to get me to show my true traitorous colors (Ha-ha). What bothered me was that her words had a ring of truth to them.

It was a very, _very_ weak ploy to get me to confess. Perhaps Yagura either values the information I gave him regarding Konoha's movements or he believes me totally. That's not so far-fetched. I can lie with all the grace of an Operative, after all. And I didn't really lie. At all, in fact. I simply left out the fact that I was a Black Operative.

"If this is your Mizukage's way of getting me to show my true intent to destroy your village from the inside, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you." I watched her expression very carefully. "All I want is for Konoha to burn."

She seemed taken aback. "Y-yes of course."

Disappointment briefly cut through her vision. And then distrust. All at once, I was looking at a mask. Not a white porcelain mask, but one of flesh. An emotional blockade.

"Right this way."

In order to get to our hotel, Mei had to take us through the residential district. It wasn't until I saw the emaciated beggar that I stopped. The child was small, with brown hair. He looked remarkably like a younger version of Higa. Karin touched a hand to my back as she followed my look.

"Why is the village in this state?"

The Jounin with us said something about the war that I immediately disregarded. I cut across her.

"Don't bullshit me." I focused on her.

"This village could be great. We have a bloody past but the future is unwritten. We'll keep painting the future red." She looked at her shoes, almost ashamed. "Yagura has-"

"Shut up." This time it was Karin who spoke up. "Naruto, there is no deception in her chakra. She's honest in her intent and her words…but this might not be the best place."

Of course. We were certainly under surveillance. At this point we could only limit the damage caused, and hope Yagure didn't pick up on anything. Luckily, Mei was quick on the uptake.

"As you are a guest here, you have no right to interrupt me." She leveled a hand at Karin. "As I was saying, Yagura has done his best to put us at a strategic advantage and I will not tolerate any speculation on his inability to tend to the civilians."

She had managed to convey her feelings on the matter without giving herself away to the watching AnBu. Mei had real talent. And to think that she was only a Jounin. How crafty must their Spec Ops be, in this case…

Mei left us at the hotel; a large building almost as tall as their Kage Tower with four rooms per floor. It was circular in the manner of Kirigakure, and offered four oval shaped windows and a comfortable living space, complete with kitchenette and den. All in all, much more comfort than I was used to. After applying the necessary traps along the doors, windows, and other less obvious routes of entrance and exit, I ate a light salad that Karin had prepared.

Karin. With the exception of Neji, she was the only one who my wolves were quiet around. And of course, the only person to see them at all. Even Neji, with his Byakugan, hadn't seen the 'chakra constructs', as she had called them.

What did that even mean?

"Karin." My voice surprised even myself.

"Yes?" Her eyes lit on mine, cold blue and bright red.

"You said my wolves are chakra constructs." I hesitated for a split-second. "What exactly does that mean?"

She considered her words before answering, a leaf of green vegetable waving gaily on her fork as she twirled it in thought.

"It's like…" She paused, "Well it's like making hand signs. While you expend chakra, you use hand signs to help mold it into the proper shape."

"But I'm not expending any chakra…"

"Shush, don't interrupt," She admonished, brandishing the lettuce at me, "As I was saying, hand signs help shape the chakra. However, skilled Shinobi can use techniques without making those hand signs. They do this by printing a seal or schematic of the technique beforehand.

"Your little familiars are kind of like those schematics. While they don't have any chakra in them of their own…they are a series of hand signs. They are seals. That is to say, your wolves are an intent. To me, they appear as ghosts."

"Why can you see these ghosts, but Neji couldn't?"

"Neji?"

The name, from her lips, brought a pang to my stomach. "A Hyuuga I was…acquainted with."

"Ah, that's because this is a bloodline limit." She blinked her distracting eyelashes at me. "I can see techniques before their formed, usually only an instant before. I can see the intent behind the user."

"Like the Sharingan."

"No, the Sharingan reads chakra movements and muscle tension to predict likely outcomes. I see the legitimate technique as if it were to happen at that time. I don't see the movements, I see the _intent._"

"So if someone intends to kill you…"

"I would know."

A dark and uncalled-for thought passed through my mind as I held her eyes. She blushed lightly and looked away as I smirked.

"So." I pointed my fork at one of the wolves. "If I channeled chakra to that thing, it would become physical?"

"Most likely, yeah."

I did. The wolf raised its head and looked around, as if startled. It sprang to its feet and looked at me, curious. As it padded towards me, I noticed that the fabric and papers nearby the wolf fluttered slightly. Indeed, when it came to nuzzle my hand, I noticed a grating, scissoring quality to its texture.

"Wind natured…" I said in wonder, marveling. "But I didn't channel any…"

"...You said on the ship that they appeared during your stay in Iwa," Karin was also staring at the wolf. "Maybe since they're so closely tied to you that they automatically convert it…what I mean to say is that perhaps the seal in the wolf filters and changes the chakra based upon your nature."

"I didn't even try to make these." I felt a strange feeling deep in my stomach. It was a hollow, aching yearning feeling. "How could I make a seal this advanced when my understanding of Fuinjutsu is rudimentary at best?"

Karin actually laughed at that. "At last, an easy question."

"What?" I looked at her.

"Don't be silly." She rose, nose pointed in the air. "You are an Uzumaki. It is expected of you."

Rolling my eyes at her theatrics, I cut chakra to the wolf, which sustained itself for a few moments before becoming just a shadow in my mind once again. I gave it another shot, and the thing resolidified.

I should be clear, I guess. It wasn't exactly solid, or even clearly visible. It was transparent, seemingly made of…well I suppose wind. It was corporal enough for me to identify it as a wolf, but if it were moving quickly I would have trouble understanding what exactly it was. Excellent.

The combat applications for this…technique…were promising. They would be even more useful than my summons…since they're made not from flesh but from my own mind…they can't be slain. Right? That makes logical sense. A chakra absorbing technique or a sealing technique might render them helpless, but traditional weaponry would most likely prove useless.

We'll see when the time comes.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

When you wake up an Operative, you should be very careful. This was a lesson that the Kiri AnBu member who shook he awake learned firsthand. I didn't realize what was happening until he was on the floor and my kunai was about to slice through his throat. Luckily, I had enough time to roll away while Karin muttered an admonishment.

Doing his best not to appear shaken, the AnBu told me that Yagura had summoned me and would expect me in an hour. He took special care to indicate that Yagura wanted _me_, not Karin. We ate a small breakfast and I unsealed the tri-pronged kunai to give to Karin. Since I didn't know much about seals (The wolves nonwithstanding), I couldn't just fit her with a distress seal, so I gave her instructions to throw it is she needed me.

Traveling through shadows by habit, I made my way towards the Kage Tower, pointedly ignoring the large number of homeless people and the hunger etched on their faces. I ignored the bleeding ninja on the street; discarded tools that weren't worth the chakra to heal. I decided that I didn't like this place after all, honesty or no honesty.

I greeted his secretary and was told to go right in. When I entered, Yagura was facing a window, his back to me. Both of his hands were clasped behind his back. I checked the room and found only a single AnBu standing silently in a too-dark shadow. Brave of him, I suppose.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Quite." I was annoyed at his use of my name. "I would prefer Karasu."

"Karasu, then." Yagura turned to me. "I want you to go to Konoha."

I blinked at his pink eyes. "To what end?"

"I want you to kill Hatake Kakashi, and bring me his head."

"I just came from Konoha." I narrowed my eyes at him as I realized the sort of situation I was in. Separated from Karin, who was woefully underequipped to handle AnBu. "If you have harmed Karin in some way, I will kill you."

I ignored the stirring AnBu in the shadow. If need be, I could paint the walls with his blood and beat Yagura to death with the remnants of his limp body.

"Do not misunderstand me, Uzumaki." My eyes narrowed further still at his use of my name. "You were allowed to remain free and unfettered in my village because of the information you've given me. That is the only reason I didn't give you to my Interrogators, who I dare say are a tad bit less gentle than the ones you are used to."

I had glossed over the events in Iwa. I had given him Konoha movement information and intent. I did not give him the specifics on my operations. So Yagura was unaware that I had been captured and tortured. I stood.

"Yet here you stand," I said, "Threatening me."

"Not a threat. Just a reminder." Yagura sat at his desk. "The fact is, I still can't trust you. You can't defeat Konoha alone, and I can make a powerful ally. Kill the Copy Ninja, and Kiri will support you in your vengeance."

"…" It was necessary, that much was true. I couldn't simply walk into Konoha and kill everyone. The Hyuuga aside, the village did boast some incredibly powerful Shinobi. While I had defeated Kakashi in a spar, going all out would be quite different, not to mention the rest of his team that would surely be facing me.

And the rest of Konoha, once I killed one of their highest profile ninja. Any mercy afforded me by the Hokage would be gone, along with Jiraiya as well. Yagura knew the skill of Kakashi as well. It would be proving my story true, and making sure I was as valuable an asset as I said I was.

"Fine." Yagura smiled as I continued, "But in exchange, I expect whatever request I make of you to be honored for the period of one year after I bring you his head."

I expected him to tell me no, or to bargain. But it would seem that either Yagura did not expect me to succeed, or he had a grudge against the man, because all he said was,

"Done."

I left to tell Karin. She, of course, would be staying here. There was no reason to endanger us both. Besides, she would be a liability. I decided to tell her to stay because of those reasons, definitely not because I wanted to keep her out of danger. Definitely not because I wasn't sure how I'd deal with another loss.

When I got to her, she was unharmed and in good spirits. That was, until I told her of my mission and that I wanted her to stay. She looked as if I had slapped her.

"Absolutely not."

"Karin, you're not prepared for a fight on this level."

"I'm not letting you go alone."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Naruto, I'm going."

I decided to be cruel. "You'll be a liability."

"I – What?"

I had shocked her.

"Karin, I can't afford for you to get captured or used against me. I need to be able to fight without worrying about your safety."

"…" She looked away from me, pain clear in her eyes. "Every fucking time."

I said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"Sasuke said I would hold him back. Orochimaru said I wasn't strong enough to be his vessel. I'm always left behind."

"Then stop being so pathetic." My words startled us both. "Make yourself powerful."

"It's not that simple!"

"It is." I leveled my hand at her. "If you want it bad enough, I will make you deadly when I return. Deadly enough that I'll never have to leave you behind again."

She looked back at me, eyes swimming with tears. "You will?"

"Yes, Karin." Her watery smile tugged at my chest. "I promise."

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Several Days Later_

Sakura was a good ninja, and would make a good Hokage. It was this feature about her, however, that I took advantage of to kidnap her. You see, the girl was making rounds, bringing food and dry clothes to the Senty-nin stationed around Konoha.

It had been raining, and as a result, all of the AnBu guards were soaked. Their position had no guard shacks; nowhere to stand to escape the rain. So the Hokage's apprentice came out with waterproof bags full of dry clothes and hot broth. I trailed her around the village as she traveled with considerably less stealth than they, stopping shy and watching as each patrol gratefully accepted the clothes.

Skipping a patrol and moving ahead, I distracted the final patrol by having a crow snap a branch. They moved away from their position, and I quickly replaced them, summoning a shadow clone so as not to be suspiciously alone.

Sakura emerged about a minute later, and I nudged my shadow clone. Because we were both master actors, my clone and I, we thanked her for the clothes. Well I did, while he remained silent. I made up a voice and bowed. When we did, the girl paused.

"Are you sick or something? Your voice sounds different." Suspicion needled her face, and I felt dread wash through me. If Sakura did this often enough, she would meet all the Senty-nin eventually, and know their voices. I stepped back and looked to my shadow clone uncertainly.

"Aah," I said, looking from her to the clone. My clone had not spoken, which may yet save us. "Sorry Haruno-sama, I'm new…"

She smiled. "I suppose that explains why you didn't offer me a post briefing then."

I started, and then snapped to attention as she laughed and waved me off. It was good, because I did not know the brief. It had been years after all, and I had never been assigned to the Sentry Division.

As she turned to go, I reached out and gripped her shoulder. "Actually, Sakura…"

I felt her heartbeat skip as she recognized my voice, no longer disguised. I caught her elbow as she turned, fist flaring with chakra. Hitting her in the neck and solar plexus, I removed her ability to scream. I sprayed a concentrated mist of Kiri-designed sleeper gas in her face and egressed the location with her limp body. I left my shadow clone there.

About twenty minutes later, after I was far away, I felt my clone disperse and filtered through his memories.

_The two Senty-nin emerged from the trees in front of me, swords drawn. To their credit, I barely noticed the second team that emerged behind me. Preempting their strike, I spoke._

"_I am only a clone." _

"_Lay down on your stomach and keep your hands splayed wide."_

_I ignored their challenge and continued speaking. "I want Hatake Kakashi to meet me at the Valley of the End in three hours. If he fails to show up or doesn't show up alone, I will kill Haruno Sakura."_

_The blades scythed at me, and I allowed their cold bite to touch my skin. I burst into smoke._

And now, we wait.

_Unsigned_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

When she stirred, Sakura was at first afraid, then, predictably, she tried to reason with me. I gagged her, not wanting to listen to her inane voice.

I stood on Uchiha Madara's head, the roar of the falls echoing below me. My fight with Sasuke had damaged the statues considerably, but not enough that they would fall. I smelled only the water and the remnants of the rain. It was dark, with a cloudy-but-clearing sky.

Kakashi arrived with the grace of an AnBu, alighting silently on the head of Hashirama. We stood, looking at each other. Between the two statues I had ran a chain, attached to the seal both statues were making. At the center of the chain, dangling over the falls, was Sakura. She was gagged and her chakra had been exhausted, a side effect of the sleeper toxin.

I spoke over the rushing water, pitching my voice so Kakashi would hear me.

"This valley was formed shortly after the foundation of Konoha. The Shodaime Hokage, who you are standing on, fought with his wife against Uchiha Madara, who I am standing on."

"You didn't ask me here to give me a history lesson, Naruto."

"Humor me." I indicated the hand signs both statues were making, and to which Sakura was attached. "The Seal of Confrontation. At the beginning of a duel, both ninja make this sign out of respect. It means both that the Shinobi are prepared for the conflict, and that they are willing to die at the other's hands."

I made the one handed seal in front of my face as I continued. "Madara had not been chosen to be Hokage. This is the reason we were fed as to why he attacked with the Kyuubi. Because he wasn't chosen as the leader of a village he helped found. So he fought Hashirama Senju here, and when the battle ended, the Shodaime stood over the dead body of Madara."

I lowered the Seal of Confrontation.

"But what isn't depicted is Uzumaki Mito, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. The instrument that caused Madara's defeat. The Shodaime Hokage didn't win this battle alone. He fought alongside an Uzumaki."

Even from where I was standing I saw Kakashi's eyes widen.

"Mito's successor was my mother, Uzumaki Kushina." I scowled. "She held the Kyuubi at bay until the day I was born, at which point the Kyuubi was sealed into me, as another Uzumaki fought to protect Konoha."

I swung my arm, indicating the valley.

"Uzumaki Mito fought alongside the Shodaime Hokage against the Kyuubi and one of the most powerful Uchiha to ever live. Uzumaki Kushina fought alongside the Yondaime Hokage her entire life, and kept the Kyuubi at bay, her life being given for the defense of this village.

"Where were the Senju when our village was crushed under the weight of fear? Where was Konoha when Uzushio burned?"

Kakashi was tiring of my monologue. "So this is what your defection is about? You're mad because you found out your home was destroyed in the war? You're not the only one who paid a price, Naruto. Don't be so naïve."

"You are the naïve one, Kakashi." I slid into my stance, indicating that I was ready to begin. "Your village is pain and corruption gilded with pretty words and ignorant ninja."

"If that's your attitude," Kakashi said, unveiling his eye and taking out a kunai, "Then we have nothing else to discuss."


	14. Reaper Pt 2

We met at the middle of the chain between the two statues. Balancing precariously on the metal links, we traded blows, sacrificing small openings to a more critical wound. Unfortunately, we were still close in skill. Kakashi may not have ever been an Operative, but his speed, skill, and raw talent more than made up for it.

His kunai nicked my side as mine nicked his cheek; his foot knocked my balance off as my wrist knocked him back. I manipulated the chakra binding my feet to the chain and let myself swing down, now upside down. I threw kunai at him, but he had reacted instantly and had done the same. The water was now above me, along with Sakura, who was writhing around trying to catch a glimpse of a battle that she would never be skilled enough to participate in.

Realizing that hand to hand would be useless against me, Kakashi broke away and sealed faster than even I could, unleashing a torrent of water that spiked from the falls to my right. Well, my left if I were standing upright – oh nevermind. The water narrowly missed me, because I cut my chakra output and I dropped.

I caught a look at Sakura's fast as I fell past her. Tears were in her eyes, and her cheeks were red and swollen from crying. The instant turned to an eternity as I remembered all we had done together. The Academy. Those horrendous D-ranked missions. The battle on the bridge. When I had saved her from Gaara.

Interesting now that I was filling Gaara's shoes, and Kakashi was filling mine. Only Sakura had not changed. Still the victim. Always the one lagging behind. I felt that monster of cruelty rise in my gut again, and as I passed her, I spoke only loud enough for her to hear me as I shot down beside her towards the lake.

"Pathetic."

I had been so wrapped up in Sakura that it startled me when instead of landing in the water, Kakashi caught me by the throat, nearly crushing my windpipe and almost breaking my neck. As it were, the vertebrate cracked dangerously and I exhaled as he held me aloft, a soft blue glow starting in his other hand.

I sent a knee into his chest, or more accurately, tried to. He deflected it with an elbow as the screaming of a thousand birds echoed around us. I had a sudden flashback to so similar a scenario, with Sasuke holding me up, about to impale my chest with the screeching technique. Anger welled within me again, and I wrenched my body around, tangling my legs around Kakashi's neck and executing a textbook takedown, slamming him into the water below me.

I used his body as a springboard to get clear of the water before I got soaked, and landed on the dry land I had faced Sasuke down on so many years ago. The slightly damp soil was soft beneath my feet as the roaring mist of the falls came down before me.

Kakashi was suddenly before me again, attempting to take me in Taijutsu. Did he learn nothing? I exchanged blows for the better part of ten seconds before I realized what had happened. Stupid of me. I deftly sidestepped a strike from 'Kakashi', and stabbed him in the heart, not in the least bit surprised when he burst into smoke. I faced the real threat, on the water.

He had just finished a lengthy series of hand signs, and raised one arm high above his head. The crackling groan of his Raikiri drowned out the water. This wasn't the chirping of birds, this was the raw power of thunder, the sharpened tool that had bisected a bolt of lightning.

"No more games, then?" That was me.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto." Kakashi's tone was soft despite the deadly technique on his fingertips. "I have failed you."

"No." I channeled lightning type chakra throughout my body, enhancing my reflexes and sharpening my vision. "Konoha itself has failed me!"

With my new reaction time, Kakashi was unable to strike me with his Raikiri. The clouds gathering above us did not escape my notice, however. For every swipe Kakashi took at me, he had to evade three to five of my own, black-tipped kunai flashing in the light of his power.

I absently heard Sakura in the distance, still screaming. And then roll of something deep and powerful, before the cracking peal of thunder. Something in Kakashi's face changed, and he took my kunai in the stomach, grabbing me and plunging the Raikiri into my chest.

Simultaneously, the valley grew blindingly bright as lightning arced from the black clouds above us. I felt a squelch as Kakashi moved with insane speed away from me, the lightning from his attack paralyzing me. I wouldn't have been quick enough to escape anyway, I fear. A bolt arced from the heavens and struck my chest.

The lightning threw wicked, long shadows as it lit my ribcage, melting my bones and evaporating my blood instantly where it had struck me. I felt a lung pop, the superheated air must have expanded inside and popped it like a balloon. My eyes picked up everything, the intense light that had illuminated the valley, Sakura's stricken face, and Kakashi, still flying through the air, away from me.

And then I felt it. The little tick that all Operatives know so well. When you accept that you're about to die, really accept it, your brain releases all sorts of limiters placed on you. It's akin to opening an internal gate. It allows mothers to lift giant trees off their babies, or men to crack boulders to free a loved one. No matter what happens, there's always a split second that, with the proper training, one could take advantage of.

I touched the tattoo on my arm and raised my hand at Kakashi, firing a kunai from my hand with the almost-invisible wire attached to it. He couldn't dodge, being in mid-air. With the reaction of an Operator, he did catch the thing. But that was enough.

The fathomless power of the second lightning bolt traveled along the wire faster than he could drop the tool, and electrocuted him. Each of the three following bolts traveled through me and hit my old teacher, leaving him a blackened mass of charred flesh.

I fell to the ground near the water, briefly blacking out as the Kyuubi fought to keep my heart pumping; to repair my lung, and to reform my bones.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Reaper of the Leaf_

* * *

_Unknown Date_

Sakura's terrified screams followed me as I rose from Kakashi's smoking corpse. His ash-colored blood still smeared the scroll I had sealed the man's head into, but I paid that no mind as I stuck it into my hip pocket. Turning to the struggling girl, I let fly two obsidian-edged kunai and cut her free. The deal had been to kill Kakashi, not Sakura. She would die soon enough…let her have a bit more life before I killed her. The drain of chakra would ensure that she wouldn't be able to come after me.

I limped away much in the manner Sasuke had all those years ago. My own blood mixed with Kakashi's on my soiled clothing. Rips and tears in both my skin and the fabric told of how viciously he had fought. The former, however, were smoking as the Kyuubi sealed my wounds and healed the damage.

I looked down at my hands. They were both still shaking from the power behind his lightning natured attacks. Kakashi truly was a genius. His death is a mar on the Shinobi World. I traveled at a quick but reserved pace. Honestly, it was as quickly as I could go. I was fatigued, and my breath, even half an hour after the battle, was still ragged.

I paused for a moment to catch my breath as I leaned against a tree. My exhaustion was so complete that I didn't even notice the two Akatsuki arrive. One moment they weren't present, the next they were stepping out below me from the base of an unusually thick tree. I recognized the stature of Itachi immediately. His partner, however, I did not recognize.

Deciding not to move because I had the high ground, I raised a hand halfheartedly at Itachi. "Hey."

"This is the Jinchuuriki? He looks half dead." A third member stepped out from behind the trees, and I prepared for the worst.

The second member, the one I didn't recognize, removed his rice hat. He was a young man that looked remarkably like Gaara, except for the eyes and dark circles around them. I recognized him out of my bingo book.

"Sasori of the Red Sand."

Itachi lowered his hat as well, and looked at me, tilting his head.

"Uchiha Itachi, terror of the Uchiha clan."

The third man also took off his hat in a flourish. He looked excited.

"I have no idea who _you_ are."

The massive sword he hurled at me in anger I did recognize, however. I spun above it in a butterfly twist, stabbing him in the back of the neck with a kunai. He burst into water.

"I'M HOZUKI SUIGETSU, A MEMBER OF THE SEVEN SWORDSMEN OF THE MIST!"

He caught the giant sword and reappeared next to the other Akatsuki members. He shook the sword at me in anger.

"Doesn't ring a bell."

As the ninja growled, Sasori spoke.

"Uzumaki Naruto. The one who blinded Konoha. The second coming of Itachi, they say."

Faster than even I could track, the aforementioned Itachi had me by the throat and looked into my eyes. As he held me there, he turned to look at Sasori. And suddenly I was gone.

Instead of the forest, I was standing in what I vaguely registered as the Uchiha training grounds. Their clan symbol was emblazoned in the dirt. By the state of the houses and time of day, I deduced that this was an illusion. None of my tricks broke it, however.

Across from me stood Sasori, clad in his black Akatsuki cloak. He cocked his head at me.

"Hm."

Before I could decide on my next move, Sasori fell backwards to the ground. I didn't realize what had happened until a monstrous puppet engulfed his body as it rose out of the dirt, massive metal tail lashing out at me. I darted to one side, and as I did, I realized the fatigue in my body had gone. If this was an illusion, I had the upper hand, for now.

The Akatsuki ninja didn't give me time to work out how to escape the illusion however, as he continued to press me with his puppet. I could smell the faint, acrid aroma of poison or acid on the length of his ridiculous tail, as well as the senbon his mouth fired at me. Kept on the defensive for now, I observed this new threat.

The segmented tail rose from a mask shall on my enemies back, serving as the 'tongue' of the mask. Most of the body was obscured from view by a black undershirt, but the face mask had fallen, allowing Sasori to launch dozens of senbon needles at me. The fact that the puppet looked so human was very disconcerting, and nearly distracted me from the latest attack.

From a strange gauntlet-like appendage on his left arm, or rather the puppets left arm, a wooden spike erupted at me. I tossed a kunai at it, splitting it down the middle, only to realize that the thing held another dozen senbon. I fell to the ground in an effort to escape the hail of missiles. A single one pierced the back of my arm as I dropped, and I hissed at the pain.

Immediately I felt the burn of the Kyuubi as I feigned weakness, watching the puppet with a pained expression.

"A tightening of the muscles." I clenched my core and arms down.

"Shortness of breath." I started breathing lighter and more quickly.

"Your mouth will go dry." I moved my tongue around inside my mouth as if it were going dry.

"And you will start to lose focus." Sasori had been walking towards me this entire him. Now standing over me, he leaned down.

"Now you will die."

I lunged and slapped his puppet across the face with the ferocity of a tiger, snapping its head at the neck. As it rose in the air, I pinned the large segmented tail to the mask with two kunai placed in the segments.

Instead of trying to defend myself against the gauntlet I knew what coming, I cracked open the shell of the puppet, and forced my way inside, grasping Sasori's surprised face with one hand. As soon as I got a hand on him, however, he pulled away from me, and only once I extracted myself from the shell of the puppet did I see that he had, as well.

"No one has been able to breach Hiruko's armor before." He cocked his head at me again. "How interesting."

I closed the gap and attempted to engage him in hand to hand. Sasori was an S-ranked ninja for a reason, however. Out of the collapsing, blackish sand of his clone rose another puppet. This one looked suspiciously like…

"The Third Kazekage."

"At least you're taking this seriously."

I glanced around for something, _anything_ that might be a clue to this illusion. But perhaps Itachi had been sent to kill me. He was an Operative, after all. And it did make sense for a missing ninja to target me. There was something about Akatsuki that I was supposed to remember.

I avoided the dark cloud of whatever the hell his puppet was spewing at me, and sent an experimental kunai in response. The puppet seemed nonplussed. I could see Sasori behind the puppet, manipulating the strings. The puppet was the shield. All I had to do was go around the shield.

Recalling my Operative training, I lit my spine with electric flavored chakra, vision refocusing as I started to get tunnel vision. This was very dangerous, but very effective. With my increased speed, the puppet didn't even have a chance as I darted around it and sank my blade into Sasori's face. That was when I realized even Sasori himself was a puppet.

Once again, I retreated, eyeing my opponent warily. What did I know? Sasori was famous for tinkering with human puppets. He apparently has a puppet of the Third Kazekage, a shinobi acclaimed as being one of the most dangerous in Suna history. Sasori's body was a puppet.

So where was the puppet master? Was I in this grand illusion without an adversary?

Something leapt up and took hold of my leg. It was dark grey in color, and looked almost identical to Gaara's sand. I felt the substance pierce my leg and the burn as poison clouded my system. Even as my demon fought the poison, my leg and then hips seized up.

As the poison slowly spread, I realized the trickle of chakra I allowed the beast was not enough to burn out the poison in my system. I opened the floodgates, allowing the molten stuff to permeate my system and flush the poison. My red eyes snapped up to Sasori. He wanted to hide? Fine. I would level this playing field.

Not bothering with hand signs, I used the power of the Kyuubi to launch an intense, white hot fireball straight at the ground, followed immediately by a blast of wind. The combined techniques superheated the entire area, incinerating the puppets and vaporizing the nearby building.

The attack was so hot that the air itself was scorching. The ground was blackened and cracked, reminding me for an instant of Kakashi's body. Nothing had survived.

I landed on one knee, panting from the use of such a copious amount of demon chakra. I reminded myself that my body wasn't used to such a potent form as I noticed the charred cylinder on the ground in front of me. I picked it up. On one end was painted 'Scorpion'. I crushed it in my hand as the world melted around me, back into a clearing.

The three Akatsuki were in front of me again, Itachi with one hand covering his eye. The middle shinobi, however, had fallen to a knee, clutching his chest. Even more bizarre, I watched the one named Suigetsu behead the ninja before stabbing Zabuza's old sword into his torso.

My leg still had phantom twitches in it, but more pressing were the injuries from Kakashi, which I suddenly felt again.

"I asked about my brother." Itachi was looking at me with his good eye, respectfully displaying his Sharingan.

This might appear to some as threatening, but it would have been much more rude to deactivate it, as it would indicate that he did not view me as a threat. I was touched.

"Sasori could have killed me."

Itachi shrugged. "I had faith in you."

I considered Itachi's request.

"Sasuke returned to Konoha with the intent to kill a council member. Konoha seems ignorant of his intent. He joined and graduated the AnBu program, and is currently an operational Apprentice."

"I see."

"Prior to joining AnBu, he was spending time with his ex-teammate, Haruno Sakura. The training in AnBu seems to have calmed his ego somewhat. I believe…that he is targeting our..."

I was unable to speak. The curse seal on my tongue was constricting, making it difficult to breath. Itachi, however, understood and nodded. Once I decided to say something else, it was easier to breath and I could talk again.

"That technique…"

"It's called Balancing the Scales." Itachi wiped the blood from his eye with one hand. "It pits two people into an unbreakable Genjutsu, where one must defeat the other. Once one is victorious, the other is paralyzed, giving the winner an opportunity to kill them. It's useful for multiple targets, allowing you to fight 1v1. If an extra individual enters the field, however…you'll be defenseless for the duration of the technique."

It surprised me that Itachi would tell me all of this so readily.

"Why?" I wasn't asking about the technique, I was asking why he would explain. Again, Itachi understood.

"When I slaughtered the Uchiha," Itachi said, "It was contingent on the safety of Sasuke. I care about his wellbeing above all else. And his happiness."

"You don't believe that Konoha makes him happy?"

"Konoha may love him, but his existence is hollow. After he…after Sasuke finishes, he won't have a purpose. He'll be lost."

It was my turn to understand what Itachi was saying. It seems that Kiri was not nearly as secure as Yagura claimed. "If one were to spare him, to give him a purpose…afterword…"

"Then perhaps my loyalty might be tested."

I glanced at the ninja next to him, this _Suigetsu_. "And you?"

"Where Sasuke goes, I will follow."

"Popular, your brother." I smirked, feeling the pain from my fight with Kakashi.

"Hn."

"It will take a lot of preparation." I looked at Itachi again. "And nothing short of a full scale assault would be able to take out so many Operatives in one place."

"Without someone to lead, what would they do?"

"We – I mean they – would fall behind the next ranking individual…ah." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I outrank even the oldest Operatives."

It might seem strange, someone as young as Itachi being the highest ranking out of such an elite group, but remember that this group prides itself on lethality. Even I am unsure of Itachi's true strength, as he has not fought me, nor have I seen him fight. Most likely he could destroy me in an instant, if the speed in which he grabbed me earlier was any indication.

"None of this will work unless Sasuke succeeds."

"Hn."

"I'll require subordination."

Itachi closed his eyes and nodded. At this, he meant that he trusted me and that he wouldn't raise his Sharingan against me. I had Uchiha Itachi's loyalty. And this swordsman, who had desecrated Zabuza's grave. I don't know why that bothered me, but it did. Then again, meddling in the affairs of the Seven Swordsmen wasn't any of my business.

"Uchiha." I looked at Suigetsu. "What was your name again?"

I fled as a giant sword came crashing at me. It was slower than before, more of a joke than an actual attack. It had left me with plenty of time to flee. Smirking over my shoulder, I made for Kiri. This would be a long year.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Reaper of the Leaf_

* * *

_June 8th of the Dry Summer_

It's been about six months since my last entry. I've been training with the best ninja in Kiri, including the seven swordsmen. Karin and I mostly keep to ourselves and our training. Occasionally we'll be sent on missions by Yagura, but as per my request, he leaves us alone for the most part.

Kirigakure and Kumogakure have allied under the banner of 'Storm'. Iwagakure, Konohagakure, and Sunagakure have allied under the Western Coalition. The war has predictably not gone in our favor. Iwa has pressed to Kumo's borders and we believe that they're about to launch a formal invasion party into the country while the other two villages press Kiri.

Despite its loss of Kakashi, Konoha has been the big player in this war. Iwa and Suna are working under the lead of Konoha, most likely due to the fact that Konoha is closest to our countries.

All in all, we're in a bad place. I had expected Sasuke to pull through and kill Danzo, but thus far he has proved either incapable or he hasn't gotten his chance. It doesn't matter. We're running out of time.

Karin has progressed in leaps and bounds. While not quite on my level, she could easily pass as a Special Operator. Six months may not seem like much given the years of experience I have, but for what she was given she is progressing superbly. She is a fire type, which compliments my move perfectly. Lately we have been working on small group and partner tactics. As a favor from Yagura, who is still bound by his oath, I have his AnBu attack us and teach Karin their tricks.

We're very good. Whether it's because we share an ancestor or because we simply complement each other, our timing is almost perfect. Working with her is almost like working with Neji.

Mei has also participated in our training exercises. We sometimes socialize with Mei if we're not on missions or training. She is a good hearted woman, with no naivety in her. She wants the suffering of this country to end. Many times has she expressed the wish that there was somewhere for people to go to escape Yagura.

There is no such place. Yagura rules his village with an iron fist. Militaristic and cruel, he willingly sacrifices lives to accomplish his missions. The only positive thing I can say is that at the very least, he isn't dishonest about it.

Speaking of Yagura, he has told me that Sunagakure has a new Kazekage. And it's someone that I know: Gaara no Sabaku. I wondered about Gaara briefly. Was he still a ruthless monster? Unlikely. And he did owe me a serious debt. This could work in my favor.

The news had prompted me to make a trip. Karin and I are currently outside of Kirigakure, on route to Suna. Training as an Operative taught me how to dress inconspicuously and to blend in to traders making the route from Konoha to Suna. We've passed the damnable village and are nearly on the borders of Wind Country.

So close we are to the desert, in fact, that I can smell the sand. The air is getting hotter, and the vegetation is less vibrant. Maybe it's just because I haven't updated in such a long time, but it's difficult to remember what I haven't already written and what I have. I'll end here.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Reaper of the Leaf_

* * *

_June 10th of the Dry Summer_

Gaara is much more balanced than last I saw him. He was conflicted when he heard of my plan, but seemed to side with me in the end. I was, after all, the reason he sided with Konoha in the first place. I suppose that's one of the things that makes a Military Dictatorship weak; that the will of one man can change the tide of a war.

Going to him with the proposition was extremely dangerous to begin with. To let him know that I plan a strike on Konoha in the near future was bold. Then again, I suppose Konoha expects an attack on some level. Hopefully I can trust Gaara…and if not…well then I'll leave him no choice.

Once he gets the message to his troops, I will have the support of Sunagakure. The orders were simple: when a man identifies himself as 'Reaper', they are to follow his orders without hesitation. Itachi and I will know immediately when to meet because when Danzo dies, the curse seal will fade from our tongues. When it does, we'll meet six miles north of Konoha and initiate Phase One. From there, the pieces should fall into place.

If they don't…well then I hope death is peaceful.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Reaper of the Leaf_

* * *

_July 16th of the Burning Sun_

We received a distress call from Kumo. Konoha, in support of Iwa, has started their invasion. Because we can't leave ourselves vulnerable, Kiri instead sent the remnants of their Seven Swordsmen to assist. It will not be enough. Kumo will fall within a week.

Karin can beat me in a Taijutsu spar perhaps three times in ten. This might sound bad, but in reality it's very good. There are few shinobi who can match my skill in Taijutsu in this country, let alone in this village. Only perhaps Gai is more skilled than me in Konoha, and even then I have ways to compensate.

Because of the siege on Kumo, we expect a similar attack here in Kiri within a day or two. It seems that Konoha won't burn after all. We'll die here with Kirigakure, unless I can escape with Karin. It's a pity that Mei will die. Her presence isn't too grating.

This could very well be my final entry.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Reaper of the Leaf_

* * *

_July 19th of the Blistering Heat_

He did it. That glorious, emotional bastard did it! The seal has faded from my tongue in the night, and now our plan has hope. This is our time to strike!

Kiri came under attack yesterday by Konoha in support of Suna. They're in bad shape right now, but that doesn't matter. Kiri was a means to an end. And now Konoha's reckoning is at hand. Extended in two directions, the village will be weak. Not only that, but the Black Ops group will be leaderless, and with luck, will follow Itachi's lead.

That's not considering the pledged help of Sunagakure, and the remnants of Kirigakure. If we can get a message to the Suna nin quickly enough, then I will order them to turn on the Konoha ninja in support of Kirigakure. I did manage to tell Yagura this before I left. I only pray that he's clever enough not to give it away before it's too late.

Itachi's here. Time to go.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Reaper of the Leaf_

* * *

**End of Chapter Seven**


	15. Kage

**Final Chapter**

_Kage_

* * *

_July 30th of the Smoldering Ashes_

The windows shattered and the ground cracked, signaling my arrival in the Hokage's Office. I'll admit that this was theatrics, as I could have just as easily arrived without any fanfare. What can I say, as an Uzumaki, perhaps I am a showman at heart. Anyway, the glass from the windows was still falling, and the dust from the floor and shelves still rising as I locked eyes with Tsunade. Hers were wide with surprise and just a little bit of fear. Even as her hand reached for a kunai, I straightened, a deadly silence now settling over the AnBu and Hokage.

There was no reason to raise an alarm. I hadn't been subtle. The entire building would know, from the shaking and the concussion, that something was happening. Holding with the theme of my visit, I allowed demonic chakra to light the very floor aflame, small embers flickering with light at my feet.

"Naruto." Her voice was even, calm. As if I hadn't killed Kakashi, or kidnapped her heir. As if I was just stopping by.

"Tsunade."

"This was supposed to be a good day." Her muscles were tense, but her face was carefully relaxed. It amused me that I could put even a Kage on edge. "One of my most dangerous enemies has been killed."

I remained silent. Let her guess why I had come. I'm sure on some level, she already knew. She noted my silence with what appeared to be resignation.

"Can we not do this here?" She gestured lightly at the office in general. "I don't want to - "

She cut herself off, clutching my wrist in her hand, stopping it short from plunging the obsidian kunai into her throat. I had moved faster than even an Uchiha's eyes could track, and yet Tsunade, with apparent ease, had kept me from ending her life.

The bones in my wrist crumbled as she flexed, and in a whirl of office and sky, she tossed me through the wall like a rag doll, sending me careening out into the open air adjacent to her office.

While I spun, an incredible force hit me from above and caused me to impact the ground without any grace whatsoever, shattering the cobblestone pathway, and drawing the attention of all nearby ninja. The Hokage landed on my back, her hand grabbing in my hair.

"I said not in my office, you little punk."

Her voice no longer had the wistful air she had previously been speaking with. What affected her speech now was a baritone of authority, and not just a bit of anger. How quickly this formidable woman had turned me from predator to prey. That thought incensed me. I am many things; cruel, romantically inept, lethal, egotistical, but I am _not_ prey.

I arched my back and pushed off with my fingers and toes, unbalancing her and causing me to regain my footing. Immediately I lashed out with foot and blade, the deadly whistle of my kunai playing the sweetest music.

Looking back, I don't know what I was thinking, allowing a Kage to prepare herself for my assault. I should have arrived with my blades already singing, not taking a minute and a half for theatrics and looking cool.

Then a bone cracked as one of her fists hit its mark. I fled the broken remnants of some building as the furious woman came after me. Already tired of running, I turned and planted my feet, grabbing her by the throat as she pursued. Having not expected this, Tsunade choked on my hand as it tightened.

"What…would…the…Yondaime…think…" She asked, fighting for every word.

"Not sure." I tilted my head as she slowly asphyxiated. "He's dead."

Suddenly I was on the ground, in a crater, looking up at the face of my godfather, contorted in rage.

"NOT TSUNADE YOU BASTARD!"

I evaded his next strike, getting to my feet and twirling into a butterfly kick. I landed, only to come face to face with Tsunade, her fist cocked back to strike.

Before she could, however, Karin was next to her, elbow locked with the Hokage's, keeping her from hitting me. My foot took Tsunade in the jaw, and while the two Sannin regrouped, Karin and I stood side by side, facing them.

The ninja in the surrounding area did not interfere, held back by a hand of their leader. Tsunade glanced around that the destruction we had already caused warming up, and then at Jiraiya. He was literally shaking with rage and chakra, ready to end my life. I understood Tsunade's reservations. It was her village after all. She'd want to lure me outside so I wouldn't cause any undue damage. Cute.

"Allow me to set your mind at ease." I addressed her, and released a buffeting wind that both Sannin avoided. With the deft speed of blood and practice, Karin unleashed a white-hot torrent of fire at the ground just as I teleported us both about a hundred meters up. Before the technique even left her lips I had begun my own, a wicked, cutting wind element technique that caught her fire and intensified it, incinerating everything on the ground below us.

What remained was a large charred crater, perhaps three hundred meters in diameter. On the perimeter of this technique, fires lit and raged through wooden houses. Both Sannin recovered after a moment of horror. Two humongous pillars of smoke erupted below us, and as Gamabunta launched himself at us, Jiraiya on his head, Rasengan at the ready, I used the Hiraishin to teleport back to the waiting kunai.

The massive slug split apart, miniature versions cascading down and enveloping injured and uninjured ninja alike, keeping them from participating in this battle.

I have written in the past that it is a terrible idea for someone like me to go up against a Sannin. While Black Ops are invariably powerful, we fight in a different manner than that massive Konoha Legends before us. While they crush their foes with shows of skill and massive techniques, we prefer a quick knife in the shadows, or the poisoned lips of a lover pressed against an enemy's throat.

I was no ordinary Operative, however. I allowed my wolves to take form, charging them with chakra and feeling it naturally take the nature of wind. Always in tune with my actions, Karin immediately ignited them, doubling their lethality. Without the usual pause between bouts, my wolves and we engaged Jiraiya, as Tsunade had for the moment, vanished.

Instead of attempting to fight us straight on, Gamabunta launched straight into the air and out of range of my wolves. I was hindered in no such manner however, launching several special kunai at and around the toad. Grabbing Karin, I started teleporting, each jump meaning a different set of super-charged techniques for the toad to dodge.

On the first jump, Karin sent a large lash of water at the toad, which I charged with lightning. On the second, a fireball combined with gale force winds. On the third, lightning and fire both, and on the fourth, alternating scythes of water and wind.

Without even a breath of warning, the ridiculous strength of a Sannin forced us into the earth once more. As the ground crunched around me, I noted that it had been an enraged Jiraiya, not Tsunade, that had hit me. I rose from my crater as Jiraiya descended onto Karin, striking her with all the anger of a toad sage.

Now, while Karin can match me in a nonlethal spar three times out of ten, there is no training program in existence that can surpass someone like Jiraiya in so short a time. I moved to intervene, but as I did, my senses screamed at me and I reflexively whirled left and out of the path of Tsunade, who cracked the earth where I had stood. Swinging at me with deceptively frail arms, Tsunade growled at me,

"You were going to be Hokage!"

Her technique was simple enough: gather chakra into your fists and compress it. When the energy strikes a surface, the pressure will release, causing, for lack of a better term, an explosion of kinetic energy. Well, that was easy enough to defend against.

She lashed out at me, but instead of dodging this time, I deflected her hand by striking her wrist. As I had so many times before in my life, I broke it with the speed of easy repetition, then went to work on her left arm, cracking her wrist, forearm, and elbow. While she was reeling from those strikes, I curled into her midsection, facing away from her, and rammed one elbow into her floating ribs. Blood splattered over my shoulder as her breath was expelled.

My body flickered and all at once my Hiraishin activated, sending me directly above Jiraiya. I hit him in the back of the neck with enough force to shatter a boulder, or at least that's what I thought I did. He had noticed me instantly and turned with such insane speed that I didn't notice until it was over and my face was pressed into the earth. I felt searing pain as his hair technique pierced my body in several places, pinning me to the earth.

In front of me was a narrow view of a Konoha street. In the background was a smoking building, courtesy of an enraged Hokage, but more importantly, here was Karin, laying broken in a pool of her own blood. Her arm jutted out at an odd angle, and she was pressing the other against her thigh, attempting to stop the blood loss.

I felt a pressure as Jiraiya broke off his hair, leaving the spikes in me, and then watched as he knelt over me. He wasn't even breathing hard, the bastard. He reached down to my face and roughly grabbed it, turning it one way, then the other.

"I thought you looked like Minato once." He dropped my face and stood. "But you're nothing like him."

Tsunade entered my vision as she walked towards us. Her injuries seemed to slow her, but it had appeared that she had healed them at least partially. The aged Kage stood taller, the afternoon sun throwing her shadow into an elongated spike of black, and making her eyes nearly shine. Her clothing was tattered, this was true. Slugs began to withdraw from the ninja and civilians that I could see. The Hokage of Konoha reached into the air, and with impossible gravitas, caught the white hat of her office, which appeared to have blown down with the wind. She placed it on her head as the wind picked up, sending her clothes fluttering.

That was when the first wolf ripped into her back, sending her stumbling forward just in time for the second to rip out her throat. Both arms immediately pressed to her neck as the third disemboweled her, and the fourth tore into her femoral artery. A white haired powerhouse was suddenly clutching one by the nape of the neck, but being made from aught but wind, it simply phased through his hand. He rushed instead to Tsunade, who was still being attacked by wolves.

The mighty toad Sannin stood with his back to her and arms spread, defending her from my apparitions. I found it darkly amusing that my wolves, a product of a psychosis developed following the orders of Konoha, were the ones killing the Hokage. If Karin hadn't been so pale, I would have laughed. The amount of blood she was losing was starting to scare me, but I could not move with these spikes of hair pinning me to the ground. Preforming the Hiraishin wasn't an option, because due to the nature of my improved technique, I had to be in motion to do it. Even a crouching of the knees would be sufficient, but seeing as I was completely immobilized, I couldn't teleport.

And then an explosive chakra enveloped the area as Tsunade lit her seal, black lines etching her body. The amount of agitated energy was impressive, and even Jiraiya paused in his frenzied defense. A defense, mind you, that had won him nothing but bloody arms. Tsunade targeted me, hitting me hard enough to make me bounce. Mistake. I used the movement of the bounce to teleport. Even as my molecules destabilized to fold through the upper dimension, I mentally wrote the seal in midair next to Jiraiya, and in the same moment I was in that space, my foot hitting his neck.

It was like kicking a steel pole. The Sage chakra had hardened his body and I was rewarded with a bruised instep. I activated my Hiraishin again, attempting to stab him in the spine, but even as I moved, I saw Tsunade backhand Karin. Karin…had been out of the fight. I had been distracted by this, leaving a small opening that Jiraiya took advantage of. He grabbed my wrist and slammed me into the ground repeatedly. Stones flew around me as cold fury crept into my chest. My entire being hurt from being abused, but I was **NOT **about watch another one of my important people die! A deep rumbling laugh sounded somewhere in my head, and I felt my body hit the ground again. A menacing chakra took me, and I watched the Sannin strain to lift me. He failed. The energy condensed around me and my skin blackened, burning off my frame. I could only see a red haze as an otherworldly scream split the air around me. I realized belatedly that it had been me screaming as the red haze darkened.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Reaper of the Leaf_

* * *

_July 30th of the Smoldering Ashes_

It'll probably be obvious from the change in handwriting, but from here until noted later, it'll be me, Karin, writing this. Naruto's memory fails when he transforms into that…thing…so the best description you're going to get is what I remember.

Anyway, the roar that came from him was terrifying. It was nothing like anything I had ever heard, and I spent time in Orochimaru's laboratory. As soon as he roared, bones erupted from what I assumed was his body. Where Naruto had lay in the crater was a black and crimson creature that could not be identified. The bones created a makeshift armor, and the wicked tips of his claws cut into the Sannin as Jiraiya attempted to escape him.

My Jinchuuriki fell upon the white haired man, and ripped him apart. It was so sudden, so brutal…that I couldn't look away. Even when Tsunade came after him, he simply tagged her with one oversized claw, slamming her like a ragdoll into the bloody corpse that had been Jiraiya. She managed somehow to roll away, and then lay completely flat as the massive, unbelievably large blade of Gamabunta crashed into Naruto.

He crumpled against the blade, but it was not able to pierce the demonic cloak of energy surrounding him. Strangely colored cords were winding around the bones of the Jinchuuriki now, and the metal of the blade where it touched him was beginning to glow a merry red. The toad crashed the ruined knife into Naruto again and again, but it did nothing except stun him momentarily. Without warning, on one such swipe, Naruto clapped both of his clawed appendages together, stopping the blade, before wrenching it out of Gamabunta's hands. The thing that had been Naruto, as I should call it, leapt at the great toad, and left him with a ragged line of ruined flesh down both lips. The toad roared in pain and fell backwards.

As if the situation weren't confusing and hectic enough, dark shapes started to descend around us, including five who landed in a star formation around the Jinchuuriki. All of them wore black armor with darkened masks. They took turns distracting Naruto as the rest sealed, and after several seconds and one dead man, roots broke out form the ground and encircled him, somehow restraining the desperate beast.

Itachi, it seemed, had arrived. I watched the technique that held Naruto begin to lift the murderous haze from his mind, and saw when his eyes cleared. He glanced around briefly, and then seemed to get his bearings.

Something above me cracked, the sound echoing off the street and buildings. Far above our heads was a strange _thing_, floating suspended in the air. White mist was falling from the rectangular thing gently, and dark shapes were moving in its body. I looked back to Itachi in time to see the dark figure standing next to him fall to one knee, heaving for breath. The thing above me cracked again, drawing my attention. I, however, looked at Naruto before I looked up. He was looking at Itachi intently, and seemed to be waiting for something.

Then I glanced up at what now was clearly a gigantic mirror. In its depths, a red eye swirled, ensnaring us all in an unbreakable Genjutsu. I felt my senses warp before stabilizing, and realized that the plan had entered Phase Two.

I watched the ninja surrounding us start to slump to the ground lifelessly. First the short forms of the young Genin fell, almost instantly. Following them, the older and slightly more experienced Chuunin started to fall, and then came the Jounin. I recognized several faces out of my bingo book, and noted that the green clad monster of a man was still standing, when most of his compatriots were not. Several AnBu died all at once, then a single Operative. The pink haired girl fell over.

Then the green clad men fell. Several more Operatives swayed and hit the ground. Eventually, only a few figures were left standing: a blond haired girl clutching what appeared to be her daughter to her chest with tears streaming down both their faces, the majority of the Operatives, and a purple haired girl. I recognized Sasuke immediately, and definitely recognized the grim expression on his face.

The technique holding Naruto turned to dust and he landed ungracefully on the ground. His body flickered, and with a small release of energy, he appeared next to me. His eyes were on mine, expression intense. I breathed out and realized how dizzy I was. I saw the blonde girl running towards me, wiping her eyes as her child looked after her. Naruto noticed, too.

He looked at Itachi and spoke three words before falling forward, unconscious.

"Burn it down."

_Uzumaki Karin_

* * *

January 4th of the Embers

It's been a while. I have not been idle the last six months, however. In that time, we have stabilized the defenses, drafted and signed a village charter, notified the Fire Daimyo of the paradigm shift, defended against two small scale attacks, and notified the rest of the major villages of our intent. We still have a lot left to accomplish, but as of now we have a working military government, headed of course by myself in conjunction with Itachi.

Through my Uzumaki heritage, I am related to the Senju bloodline. Much like a phoenix rises from the ashes of its own demise, Hisakigakure has risen from the ashes of Konoha. A second Uchiha, a second Senju, and a second Uzumaki have founded this village with true equality. The Uchiha are not my enemy, they are my closest ally. The Uzumaki name will never again be dishonored. We will not make the same mistakes as our ancestors.

I had sent hawks to each of the major villages, notifying them of Konoha's destruction and warning them of my resolve to end this war. I called for a ceasefire, citing the events that Konoha had manipulated and even my own role in them. I have warned that any village not heeding this ceasefire will meet the same fate as Konoha.

Because of my prolific entrance and subsequent bout with both Kage's, the destruction of Konoha was credited to me alone, despite Itachi, Saiyu, and Karin being integral players. Because of this, my reputation is ominous indeed.

Hisaki is currently made up of the remnants of Konoha's forces, the ones that I trust with my cause, Karin, Itachi, Juugo and Suigetsu. The only Konoha ninja I left alive were Ino, Sasuke, Aburame Kaji (an Operative), Anko, Saiyu, Jin, and Itachi. This does not include the group of Operatives that Itachi leads. I listed Kaji separately because he expressed a desire to restart his family bloodline. This is more than acceptable, and thus I separated him from them.

As time wears on and missing ninja hear of my latest proclamation (That we would grant asylum and citizenship to any missing ninja deemed fit, past crimes unconsidered), ninja trickle in. Each one is subjected to both Ino and Itachi, who I have designated to mind walk and psychologically assess any hopeful.

The war has wound to a close, with the Western Alliance crushed by Storm, who gained the allegiance of Suna and lost the opposing force of Konoha. The warning was for Storm, namely Kiri and Kumo. Yagura and the Raikage have both heeded my advice for now, whether out of respect or fear, I do not know. I don't rightly care, either.

More importantly, I have demanded specific ninja from each major village as a show of faith and respect for Hisakigakure. The Village Hidden Amongst the Flames has already been called home by Yugito of Kumo, Mei of Kiri, and we await Kurotsuchi from Iwa and Maki from Suna.

Once the defenses are complete, we'll be opening the Ninja Academy, but for now we're still building. We're receiving many more people than expected, and turning away about a third. Everyone, especially ninja, is helping with the building and settling. Itachi had wisely told his Operatives to spare as much usable material such as pans, pots, established plumbing, drinking water, etc. They held to my orders and the symbolic gesture of burning down all standing structures, however. I had not needed to tell them to start building again.

It is here, at the end of this journal, that I will answer your pressing questions, because it is only here that I know to whom I am writing.

Your mother is a powerful Kunoichi and a fine woman. I do not, however, love your mother. I understand that this is a difficult thing, but as you grow you will start to understand. Or at least, that is my hope.

I formally acknowledge you, Yamanaka Kakera, as my daughter. You will inherit nothing from me except this journal. You will find your own path in this life.

I hope in time you come to stop hating me. I am sorry for the nightmares of flames and screams that I have given you. I am sorry for not being a father. I am sorry for many things, Kakera, but I am not an apologetic person. I have a village to run, and you have a life to live. Perhaps someday you will even replace me.

Never forget, my daughter, that we are Hisaki Shinobi. We are the flames that consume all darkness.

_Uzumaki Naruto, Shodaime Kakage_

* * *

**End of Final Chapter**

**Author's Note:**

**Soft complete. I'm sorry for the ridiculous amount of time it took to finish this story, but some of you know that I work a very busy schedule, and I also try to juggle a social life in with that as well. Writing is frequently the last on my list of priorities. I hope you enjoyed the story. You may notice some strings left untied, and you can rest assured that they were not mistakes. From this fiction will stem two others. Since I can't write both at the same time, I shall leave it up to you. Dear audience, you have a choice between reading a sequel, told from the point of view of Yamanaka Kakera, Naruto/Ino's daughter, or a companion/sequel told from the point of view of Hyuuga Hanabi.**

**Both will eventually be written, but if I start two I won't be able to finish either. While I let you think on this, I'll be fleshing out the storylines of both and maybe even showing some of my incomplete works a bit of love. Thanks for reading, please leave your feedback, and don't forget: Kakera, or Hanabi?**

**Feral Smile**


End file.
